Dragons: Riders and Defenders of Berk
by GuardianDragon98
Summary: In this thrilling continuation to The Fiersome Chronicles, Zenna and Stryka are back! Watch as they join Hiccup, Toothless and the rest of the original Dragon Trainers of Berk in discovering and training new dragons, battling Outcasts and Berserkers while trying to keep the peace between the Dragons and Vikings of Berk. Rated T because I'm paranoid.
1. A Letter to the Reader

**I'm baaacckkk! :D**

**As promised, here's the continuation of Zenna and Stryka's adventures with the Dragon Riders of Berk!**

**Read and review whenever and whatever you want.**

**PS: Since it's June and school season now, I might not be able to update that very often now…**

**But I will not give up! I won't abandon any of my stories, I promise!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own HTTYD nor do I own the TV series. All rights go to DreamWorks.**

**Dragons: Riders and Defenders of Berk**

**A Letter for you, Dear Reader**

Written in this volume are the many adventures me and my best friend, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, have had with our trusted Night Furies, Toothless and Stryka, along with all of our other friends, the original Dragon Riders.

Now, I remember well that in my previous stories I was the voice. But here, I shall tell you our stories as if they were written by someone else. You might hear my voice in some of the tales but I must ask you to remember that this is not my story…but _ours._

**-Zenna Fiersome**


	2. How to Start a Dragon Academy

**Note: I do NOT own anything.**

**How to Start a Dragon Academy**

'_This is Berk._

_For generations it was Viking against Dragon. The battles were ferocious…then one day, everything changed._

_Hiccup and I met Toothless and Stryka, and together we've shown people here that instead of fighting dragons, we can ride them, live with them…even train them._

_Now, our adventures are limitless…_'

We see two very special Night Furies flying across the skies of Berk. On their backs are two very special Dragon Riders.

The male Night Fury with one bright red prosthetic tail fin had a boy with auburn hair, freckles dusting his face, emerald green eyes and a metal and wood prosthetic left leg making him an equal to the majestic beast. The other Night Fury, a female with just one bright green eye and a black leather eye patch on the right side of her scaly face, had on her back a girl with hair as black as midnight and wore an eye patch over the right side of her face much like the great dragoness, her one violet eye shining as she and her companions flew about.

The names of the two Night Furies? Toothless and Stryka.

The names of the two Dragon Riders? Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and Zenna Arrowhead Fiersome.

Together, the four of them were the perfect team…and they still are.

Now, we see them fly over to a sea stack where their friends and their dragons were waiting for them.

"Okay guys, Best Trick competition. Who's up first?" Hiccup asked the other four Dragon Riders.

"Uh…" Fishlegs Ingerman, a husky blond Viking with his sweet female Gronckle, Meatlug, piped up before Snotlout Jorgenson, a black haired bruiser of a boy with a stubborn male Monstrous Nightmare named Hookfang interrupted with, "Me!"

"Actually I think it's…" Fishlegs spoke up again.

"Me!" Snotlout once again butted in, making Zenna look at Hiccup and whisper, "Just let him go first…" in a somewhat irritated tone.

Finally Astrid Hofferson, a tough-as-nails blonde Viking shield maiden with a beautiful yet just as tough female Deadly Nadder called Stormfly exclaimed, "Sweet Baby Thor in a thunderstorm, GO!"

Snotlout smirked and got comfy on Hookfang. "Oh don't worry, we'll go. And when we go, Hookfang and I are gonna light the sky on-…" he managed to boast before Hookfang took off.

"-FIRE!" Snotlout screamed as his dragon began to go crazy with the tricks. Hookfang spiraled here and there, doing all sorts of insane acrobatics.

"Oh no!" Snotlout hollered as Hookfang then did one last aerial stunt…before diving into the water to chase after a school of fish.

"Brave stunt there, Hookfang." Zenna complimented the Stoker Class dragon as it came in for a landing, with a scared-out-of-his-wits Snotlout clinging onto his dragon's neck for dear life.

"I'm alive…? I'm alive!" Snotlout shouted in relief before looking at everyone's faces.

"Of course I am." He said quickly in an attempt to save what was left of his dignity.

"It's my turn!" Fishlegs said excitedly before looking at Meatlug.

"Ready, Meatlug? Here we go!" And with that, Meatlug lifted off the ground and proceeded to buzz around the sea stack at low speeds. For those two, _that _is considered a great trick. The others could only look at the slow moving duo with blank, bored expressions.

When Meatlug landed, Fishlegs grinned. "Yes! New personal best!" he praised Meatlug, giving her a hug which she returned with an affectionate lick.

Then the Thorston Twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, riding on their male Hideous Zippleback, Barf and Belch, began to argue…again.

"My turn!" Ruffnut insisted to which Tuffnut protested, "No, my turn!"

"Hideous Zippleback. Two heads, remember?" Zenna reminded them and Hiccup joined in with, "Guys, same dragon."

"Oh, right." Tuffnut chuckled before he and his sister went up into the air.

But as usual they began a new argument, this time in the sky riding their Zippleback.

"Go left!" Tuffnut ordered Belch while Ruffnut told Barf, "No, right!"

"Oh, here they go again!" Zenna face palmed as she watched the Twins and their dragon head straight for another sea stack.

"N-no, right!" Tuffnut yelped while Ruffnut hollered, "No, left!" making Barf and Belch even more confused, not to mention getting their necks tangled.

Finally the two-headed dragon decided to take matters into their own paws and tossed their Riders up into the air!

"Oh no! Whoa! This is awesome and scary! Ahhh!" Tuffnut screamed as they fell.

Good thing, Barf and Belch caught them! They took them both back to the sea stack, Ruffnut and Tuffnut both slumped against their dragon's necks.

"You two still alive?" Zenna questioned them, her violet eye showing concern as she peered at the Twins.

"We almost died…" Ruffnut straightened up along with her brother. "I know…go again?!" Tuffnut breathed out, looking at his sister excitedly.

"Hey! It's my turn." Astrid said before looking at Hiccup. "You might wanna take notes." She said with a smile before urging Stormfly, "Let's go!"

As she took off into the air, Zenna glanced at Hiccup. "Best to listen to your girl, Hicc." She giggled, a teasing grin on her face.

Hiccup just smiled as he watched Astrid and Stormfly perform their tricks.

"Okay, Stormfly tail flip!" Astrid commanded and Stormfly obeyed, her spiked tail dragging through the water.

"Now twirl!" Stormfly began to immediately twirl about in mid-air until Astrid called out, "Quick, upwards spiral!" and she flew up, spiraling through the air.

"Alright, Stormfly!" Astrid cheered, pumping her fist in the air. She and her Nadder then flew back down to the sea stack where they were greeted with cheers and praise.

Then Snotlut said, "Yeah, but can you do that _without _the dragon?" to which Astrid responded with a punch to his arm making Snotlout yelp, "Ow!"

With their friends now done with their tricks, Hiccup and Zenna were raring to go.

"It's finally our turn, girl. Let's show 'em what we've got." Zenna said to her female Night Fury, smiling. Stryka growled an excited growl. Like her Rider, she was ready to go flying.

"Looks like we've got our work cut out for us there, bud." Hiccup said to his male Night Fury. Toothless warbled in agreement.

Hiccup, Toothless, Zenna and Stryka then lifted off and began to power dive towards the water! Then at the last second, they pulled up! The force caused the water to tear up like a wave as they flew about, zigzagging around the sea stacks at blazing speeds!

But what do you expect? Toothless and Stryka _are _Night Furies.

Approaching a rock arch, Hiccup and Zenna looked at each other, nodded and prepared themselves. Once they were close enough, they leapt off their dragons backs and ran across the narrow stretch of rock, almost as if in slow motion, and then jumped back on their dragons once they were done flying under the arch.

Naturally the four of them won the Best Trick Competition, like they do every day.

In celebration, Toothless and Stryka fired out their plasma blasts to create an impromptu fireworks show, much to the delight of their friends.

"They're still the best." Astrid said, watching them as Hiccup, Toothless, Zenna and Stryka soared through the air.

"We did awesome, Stryka!" Zenna whooped, giving her dragon a gentle scratch behind her ear plate.

"Another win. Good job, bud." Hiccup praised Toothless who warbled happily.

Together, the four friends flew back to the village, their other friends shortly following them.

'_Yep…Dragons._

_Most people on Berk would say life here is better since we made peace with them._

_Unfortunately, dragons are still, well, dragons…_'

Later that afternoon, Hiccup and Zenna were walking around the village. Toothless and Stryka were allowed to do whatever they wanted to do since both Viking teens decided to let them have their free time.

It would've been a relaxing walk for Hiccup and Zenna…if the dragons hadn't been running wild in the village plaza.

"Let go off my food! Drop it, pesky dragon! Dragons!"

"Get off my roof, you pest!"

"Let go of that! These are my apples!"

"Give me back my dainties, dragon!"

The two best friends had to be careful to avoid any angry Viking villagers as well as rampaging dragons, all the while listening to the villagers' complaints.

"This walk hasn't turned out to be so relaxing…" Zenna mumbled, observing the chaos. Hiccup was about to say something when…

"Incoming!"

"Look out!"

"Dragon poo!"

Upon hearing those shouts, both Hiccup and Zenna looked up to see a flock of dragons fly overhead. It only took the duo three seconds to start backing away while the dragons answered the call of nature.

"Yikes! Hot dung, incoming!" Zenna yelped. "Ew, gross, gross, gross. Oh poop. Oh, that's disgusting." Hiccup grimaced as they quickly found shelter under the shield umbrellas of two one-handed Vikings.

One Viking, a brown haired one, had a hook for a hand and a regular horned helmet. The other, a blond haired Viking, also had a hook for a hand but instead of a helmet had a bucket on his head. Those two shield umbrella wielders are Bucket and Mulch, farmers and fishermen.

"Oh, hey. At least some people gave your '_shield-brella_' idea a try, Hiccup." Zenna remarked, relieved to be out of the drop zone.

"Hey Mulch. Hey Bucket. Sorry about the, uh…" Hiccup greeted the two Vikings before wincing as he saw a villager get a face full of dragon poop.

"Every day at three. They're regular at least. A tip of the cap." Bucket commented. "Better then the days when it was '_kill or be killed_'." Mulch shrugged, making Zenna look at him rather offended. In her and Hiccup's opinion, the before days of dragon killing were like living Helheim compared to these days of dragon-related chaos.

Realizing that he may have offended both kids, Mulch then said, "Hey, we've got some fish for those parents of yours. Bucket, give the kids the cods." Turning to Bucket.

Bucket then held up an empty and torn up sack, much to his and Mulch's confusion. "I ate it already? Did I enjoy it?" Bucket asked.

It was no secret that ever since he suffered a dragon attack to the head in a raid, Bucket had pretty much lost half of his brain. Due to that, he had to wear a bucket on his head to protect it from further damage _and _suffered from short-term memory loss which usually made him forget things that had even occurred just minutes ago.

Today was one of those days.

"Um, no, uh, actually Bucket…I'm afraid the, uh…" Hiccup managed to say before a small chirp alerted them to spotting a small Terrible Terror make off with the two fish, taking it to underneath a small awning where a flock of more Terrors flew into to feast.

"Well, at least the _dragons _are enjoying it." Zenna said, looking on the bright side of things.

Hiccup, on the other hand, could only manage a weak grin as he watched the chaos continue. And the chaos…let's just say it lasted all day until it was nighttime.

'_Most of us here on Berk are willing to take the good with the bad. But there are those who will never accept the dragons and will do anything to drive them away…_'

That night high up in the far side of the island stood an old house belonging to an even older Viking who was now asleep.

The old Viking is Mildew, the village grump and resident dragon hater of Berk.

Right now, his peaceful sleep was disturbed by the sound of rattling on his roof. Muttering, Mildew got out of bed and went outside. Looking up, he saw a Gronckle taking a snooze on his house's roof.

"Dragons, I should've known. Helps himself to my roof and my cabbage…" Mildew muttered, picking up a half-eaten cabbage head lying near his doorstep.

But that wasn't the only thing that got Mildew all riled up…

"My whole field! Gone!"

True enough, Mildew's entire farming field was destroyed, thanks to some Gronckles wanting a midnight snack.

"That tears it, Fungus." Mildew grumbled, putting on his helmet, taking up his staff and pet sheep, Fungus, before beginning the long walk towards the village.

The mornings in Berk are always busy. If a storm, freeze, invasion or war was coming, it was even busier.

On this particular morning, the villagers were preparing for an upcoming freeze. Heading the preparations is Stoick the Vast, Hiccup's father and mighty Chief of Berk. Assisting him is Gobber the Belch, the village blacksmith and Zenna's parents, Edgar and Henna Fiersome.

"Store the rest of it in the back, the fishing boats just came in with a big catch." Stoick ordered the workers.

Serpent and Serpentine, Edgar and Henna's maroon Hideous Zippleback who was now a lot bigger ever since Snoggletog months before, happily helped their master and mistress roll a barrel full of fish to the back of the village's food storage.

Mildew had finally arrived at the village and marched straight up to Hiccup's father shouting, "Stoick!"

"Oh, not this old grump again…" Zenna muttered under her breath. "Zenna, manners!" Henna scolded her but could not help but feel some slight dislike for the old man. "He _is _a grump, love. There's no wrong in pointing out what's true."

Mildew had once yelled at Zenna for trespassing when she had just been giving Stryka a tour of Berk back when she had woken up from her month long coma. Mildew had even threatened to cut off Stryka's head and mount it on his wall, which did not sit well for the young girl's mother and father when Zenna had decided to tattle on him.

Ever since then, Zenna's parents had advised their daughter and her dragon to stay away from Mildew's house as often as possible. And their _slight_ dislike for the old man had turned into _great _dislike.

"Ah, here's Mildew with the complaint of the day." Gobber quipped upon seeing the sheep-toting villager.

"You picked a bad time, Mildew. I'm in the middle of storing food. The freeze is coming." Stoick told Mildew who merely huffed, "It's those dragons again. Those demons are not fit to live among civilized men."

"Demons? Civilized?" Edgar glared at the old man. "Says the one who threatened our daughter all those months ago." Henna muttered. Serpent and Serpentine hissed and protectively coiled their necks around Zenna who just rolled her eye at Mildew's complaint.

"Neither are you, Mildew. Why do you think we built your house so far outside of town?" Gobber said jokingly, making the Fiersome Family chuckle along with their dragons.

"Ah, very well, make your jokes. Meanwhile these dragons are in our village's cod! Turning people's houses into piles of rubble!" Mildew shouted accusingly, gesturing with his staff to the number of damaged carts and house around the village.

"Mildew's right!" one Viking exclaimed from atop the roof he was fixing, much to Hiccup and Zenna's chagrin.

"They even disturb an old man's rest. Can't you see these bags under me eyes?" Mildew questioned, pointing to his face while another Viking called out, "Go on, Mildew!"

"He's right, he's hideous." Gobber said upon inspecting Mildew's face. "_Really _hideous." Zenna added, making Hiccup smile a bit in amusement.

But Mildew wasn't finished ranting and raving yet. "These are wild and unpredictable beasts!" he exclaimed with another Viking agreeing with, "Right you are!"

At that, Hiccup and Zenna looked at each other worriedly. Sure the dragons were still a bit wild and plenty unpredictable but they weren't beasts! The two of them both saw the winged, fire-breathing reptiles as friends and equals.

Unlike Mildew, who was still sticking to the old ways. The guy _really _needed to broaden his perspective if he wanted to be not so much a grump…

"They even cracked this man's skull. Like an egg." Mildew went on, banging on Bucket's bucket for emphasis.

"Eggs? I like eggs! Scrambled! Over easy! Poached!" Bucket said, blissfully unaware of the uproar and now feeling hungry.

"You need to put those dragons in cages." Mildew demanded Stoick.

At the word '_cages_', Serpent and Serpentine recoiled in horror and flinched when they heard a man say, "I agree!"

"If you don't, they'll eat us out of house and home and destroy the entire village!" Mildew exclaimed, the villagers chanting their agreements.

Toothless and Stryka warbled in concern for their fellow dragons' safety as well as theirs. They'd been caged before and they didn't like it one bit.

Deciding to speak up, Hiccup and Zenna walked to stand by Stoick.

"They don't mean any harm They're just dragons being dragons." Hiccup said, quieting the people down. "They just need time to get used to all of us. It'll take time but they'll be integrated into our society, no doubt about it." Zenna joined in.

Mildew continued to glare at the two teens before Stoick stepped in. "Look, Mildew, if there's a problem _I'll _deal with it." He said gruffly.

"Oh, there _is _a problem Stoick. And I think I speak for everyone when I say you better do something about it!" Mildew said threateningly before leaving.

At that point, the villagers began voicing their complaints once again. Hiccup and Zenna could only look at each other and their two Night Furies while the villagers complained.

Later that night, Stoick, Gobber, Edgar and Henna were in the main room of the Haddock house where they hoped to discuss ideas on handling the village's current dragon problem.

"We can't just let dragons run wild like they own the place." Stoick said, pacing about before suddenly suggesting, "Hey, we could put up signs!"

"Signs…for _dragons_?" Gobber questioned him. "Do they even know how to read?" Edgar asked in agreement to the blacksmith's query.

"No! For the _people_." Stoick corrected himself.

"Signs…for _Vikings_? We're not big readers, Stoick." Gobber pointed out. "Our tribe would be far much better if we were…" Henna said, knowing that most of her neighbors had never even opened a book. She and her family, on the other hand, were at least somewhat more academically inclined…and even more literate.

"Then we'll build a huge net and stretch it around the plaza." Stoick suggested once again.

"Nets? You do know they breathe fire?" Gobber said incredulously. "It could be a net made of _iron_. It'll be far stronger than a rope one." Edgar offered helpfully. "But if the dragons breathe fire, the iron could melt. And melted iron is hot, love. Think of the injuries!" Henna chided her husband.

"I know very well they breathe fire, Gobber. Edgar, it might seem like a good idea but your wife's got a point. Maybe Mildew's right…" Stoick sighed, officially out of ideas.

Hiccup and Zenna had been listening in on their parents' conversation and wanted to help.

"We have to figure something-…" Stoick managed to say before Hiccup said, "No, no, wait Dad. What if _Zenna and I _deal with the dragons?"

The adults then turned to look at the auburn headed teen in surprise.

"You two?" Stoick asked, slightly stunned. "Well, Hiccup and I _are _the original Dragon Trainers." Zenna replied with a smile.

"Fair point there, love." Henna smiled, fixing Zenna's slightly disheveled hair. "You two _are _the reason why dragons are now at peace with us." Edgar chuckled, ruffling Zenna's hair up much to his wife's dismay.

"Who else? If anyone can control them, _we _can. I'm the best man for the job." Hiccup said as Toothless nosed his way under his arm for a cuddle.

"And I'm the best _woman _for the job." Zenna added, stroking Stryka who purred happily in agreement.

"You're not a man _yet_, Hiccup." Stoick sighed at his one-legged son. "And you're not exactly yet a woman either, Zenna." Gobber looked at the one-eyed girl standing by the Chief's son.

"Not if you don't give us a chance to be!" Hiccup responded. "We can do it, trust us." Zenna affirmed.

The four adults looked at each other and thought over it carefully. Finally they nodded. If Hiccup and Zenna wanted to try, they had to at least give them a chance.

"Fair enough, you'll both have your chance…starting tomorrow." Stoick told the two seriously.

"No problem. It'll be easy as pie." Zenna said confidently.

Oh, was she gonna eat her words tomorrow…

The next day, while the dragons continued their mischief and misbehaving, two Viking teenagers confidently strode into the plaza.

"Okay gang, there's gonna be some changes around here." Hiccup announced. "Starting today." Zenna added as they split up and got to work.

"Get out! Shoo! For the last time, get your nose out of my bread!" a Viking baker yelled as she struggled to keep a purple Nadder from stealing her bread basket.

Hiccup quickly ran over to her calling out, "Hold on, I'll help you! Just…"

Hiccup then faced the misbehaving Nadder and sternly said, "No!" placing his hand on the dragon's snout, calming it down.

"Alright." Hiccup grinned, happy at his progress. This was going to be a snap!

But suddenly a blue-green colored Gronckle burst out of nowhere, Zenna running after it in hot pursuit yelling, "Hold it right there!" startling both Hiccup and the Nadder. The Nadder then went back to misbehaving as soon as Hiccup got distracted by the Gronckle.

"Okay…" Hiccup mumbled.

Maybe this wasn't going to be much of a snap…

"Sheesh, for a Gronckle, he could run like the wind…!" Zenna panted as the Gronckle evaded her grasp.

Suddenly, roars coming from somewhere up in the village got the two teens' attention. A Monstrous Nightmare and Deadly Nadder were getting into a brawl, startling a flock of sheep and setting one on fire!

"Toothless, Stryka, stop that fight! We'll put out the sheep." Hiccup commanded his Night Fury and Zenna's, grabbing a bucket of water along with Zenna.

The two Night Furies quickly rushed to the two bickering dragons to break them up while their Riders chased after the flaming sheep.

"Stop, drop and roll! It's stop, drop and roll, you stupid ball of fleece!" Zenna yelled as she and Hiccup were knocked down by the panicking sheep on fire, spilling all the water in their buckets.

"Okay, okay…whoa!" Hiccup yelped as the both of them chased the sheep into the plaza, where things were no better…

"Get out! Get back here with my cart!"

"Enough of these dragons!"

The dragons were _everywhere!_ Running and flying off with food, clothing, personal possessions…basically, the dragons were too many and doing too many things all at once and Hiccup and Zenna just couldn't keep track of them all.

"Remember when I said last night that this would be easy as pie? I take it all back. This…is harder than it looks!" Zenna deadpanned, shaking her head in disbelief.

Unbeknownst to her and Hiccup, their friends were watching them fail miserably from one of the village's watchtowers.

"What're they doing?" Snotlout asked curiously.

"Uh, I think they're helping the dragons break stuff." Tuffnut guessed.

"Cool." Ruffnut said, grinning.

Hiccup and Zenna yelped and ducked as a dragon dive bombed, barely missing them both.

"Wow, they could really use our help." Astrid remarked.

"We'll get to it." Tuffnut said lazily.

"In a minute." Ruffnut agreed with her brother, just as lazy as him.

Meanwhile, Zenna managed to corner the flaming sheep and Hiccup tossed the contents of his refilled water bucket right to the sheep's face.

"Sorry about that." Hiccup said apologetically. "That's one problem solved…" Zenna breathed a sigh of relief.

However, her relief was short-lived when the dragons arrived to take a dump.

"And…it's three o' clock." Astrid sighed as the first few globs of hot, bright green dragon poo fell from the sky.

Zenna was lucky she had her older brother Elias' shield. But as she put it up over her head, she muttered a quick apology to her brother for disgracing his shield's integrity.

"Um, Hiccup…" she called out a warning to her best friend when she spotted a big glop of dragon dung headed straight for him!

But she warned Hiccup too late.

"Oh, no." Hiccup muttered before the glop of dragon poo hit him straight in the face!

Zenna cringed, quickly taking Hiccup's hand and pulling him into her house to get him _and _her shield cleaned up. Once that was down and the dragons had finished relieving themselves, Hiccup and Zenna got back out there…only to fail once again to stop the dragons from misbehaving.

"Oh, gods…I am _so _eating my words right now." Zenna groaned. Hiccup could only groan in agreement.

That night, both friends were in Hiccup's bedroom, completely exhausted.

"Aw man, my aching _everything_…" Zenna moaned, sitting down on a chair and put her head in her hands. Stryka warbled and tried to make her feel better by giving her a cuddle.

"Oh, everything hurts…even _this_." Hiccup sighed, sitting down on his bed and detaching his prosthetic left leg. Toothless also crooned worriedly upon seeing how beat-up his best friend was.

"Hiccup? Zenna?" Astrid's voice suddenly called from downstairs, making both teens instantly straighten up.

"Astrid?" Hiccup wondered out loud. "Who else could it be?" Zenna told him, shrugging.

"Perfect…" Hiccup muttered before he and Zenna looked at Toothless and Stryka and asked them, "We don't look too beat-up, do we?"

All their two Night Furies could do was smile half-heartedly at them. "Oh great, dragon pity." Hiccup and Zenna both deadpanned as Astrid came up.

"Hey, Astrid, what a nice surprise!" Hiccup said to the beautiful shield maiden as cheerfully as he could. "Stryka and I will be on our way now. See you tomorrow." Zenna said before getting on Stryka's back and flew out of the window.

"So, how was your day?" Astrid asked once the one-eyed girl was gone. "Uh, uneventful…Hung around the plaza with Zen…you know…" Hiccup said, trying to sound casual.

"Yeah I _do _know. We saw you two out there." Astrid replied, picking off a clump of dirt off Hiccup's leather vest. "It's hard to believe that you're both still standing." She decided to add.

Finally completely drained, Hiccup collapsed onto his bed. "I'm gonna be seeing flaming sheep in my dreams for the next month." He groaned before he heard the one voice he really didn't want to hear right now…

"Hiccup!"

Stoick came up to his son's room, looking rather steamed.

"Hiccup, what's going on out there? The plaza looks like a war zone." Stoick demanded, his son quickly getting up from his bed.

"I know it looks bad…" Hiccup began before Astrid whispered to him, "_Really _bad." Making him wince a little.

"Yeah, but this is only _Phase One _of my master plan." Hiccup said convincingly. Truth be told, he was _still _coming up with the other phases of his master plan.

"Oh, so you _do _have a plan?" he asked curiously. "I do…of course I do! It's very complex. Lots of drawings, several moving parts. Yeah it's, uh, pretty wild." Hiccup fibbed, praying to all the gods in Valhalla that his father wouldn't call his bluff.

Luckily Stoick believed him. "Uh huh, well this better be real because Mildew's stirred up the whole island. And if you and Zenna don't get those dragons under control, they'll be calling for their heads." He said seriously before going back downstairs.

Toothless rumbled worriedly. There was absolutely no way he and his beloved Stryka were gonna lose their heads! They needed them!

"Don't worry, bud. Your head's not going anywhere." Hiccup told him soothingly. Astrid then walked over to the duo. "You and Zenna do realize there are, like, a _bazillion _dragons out there and only _two _of you? I hope you two really _do _have a plan." She said, putting her hands on her hips.

Hiccup looked at Astrid for a second before nodding. True, his master plan was still very much incomplete. But he was determined to not fail. Once Astrid left, Hiccup got brainstorming until he finally came up with an idea. But first, he needed to tell Zenna about this…

Meanwhile in the Fiersome household, Zenna was getting a much-needed massage from her mother while Stryka got hers from Zenna's father.

"Ow, Mom not so hard!" Zenna winced as her mother's hands kneaded her shoulder blades a bit too roughly. "Sorry, love. You've got this really tight kink here…" Henna apologized as she lowered down the pressure.

"I don't see why Stryka needs a massage as well. You and Hiccup were the ones running about today." Edgar mumbled as he gently massaged Stryka's back. The female Night Fury snorted and whacked Zenna's Dad in the head with her tail, much to Zenna's amusement.

"Hey, even dragons need to be pampered once in a while, Dad." Zenna chuckled before she heard Hiccup's voice from outside.

"Zen, you there?"

"Okay Mom, Dad, you may leave. Thanks for giving us the massage." Zenna thanked her parents, stroking Stryka's chin.

Once Zenna's parents had left, Zenna looked out her window to see Hiccup and Toothless hovering a couple of inches below her house's roof.

"Evening, Hiccup. Evening, Toothless. What brings you two here at this time of night?" Zenna greeted them as she let them come in through her window.

Stryka warbled lovingly to her mate and Toothless affectionately nuzzled her.

Wanting to cut to the chase before his Dad found out he and Toothless had snuck out, Hiccup immediately asked Zenna, "Do you remember the old Dragon Killing Arena?"

"Yeah, nobody's using it and I heard your Dad's planning to have it torn down. Why?" Zenna said, raising an eyebrow.

"We're gonna use it as a place to train the dragons tomorrow." Hiccup told her. Zenna blinked. "That's a sensible idea but wouldn't the dragons get kind of, you know, nervous? I mean, that place _was _where we used to kill them." She pointed out.

Toothless was now busy looking around Zenna's room and Stryka was giving him a grand tour of sorts while Hiccup said, "I guess you're right. But right now, it's our only chance. Mildew's got the whole village riled up again. If we don't do something soon, we could lose the dragons forever."

"Alright, I'll gather up the others and their dragons first thing tomorrow morning." Zenna said, agreeing to Hiccup's plan.

"Thanks, Zen." Hiccup said gratefully before calling Toothless' attention and they both turned to leave.

"Just out of curiosity, did your Dad approve of you taking over the arena?" Zenna suddenly asked, making Hiccup stop in his tracks.

"Um, well…" Hiccup said, awkwardly turning to face the one-eyed Viking girl. It didn't take Zenna a second to know that her best human friend had once again disobeyed orders and rolled her eye.

"I should've known…" Zenna sighed, shaking her head. "Yes, there's a possibility we could all get in trouble. But it's our only chance, Zen! You're either with me or against me." Hiccup said exasperatedly.

"Relax, Hiccup. I'm with you all the way." Zenna laughed at the one-legged boy's exasperation. Hiccup finally relaxed, said good-night to Zenna and left with Toothless.

As she watched the two fly off, Zenna looked at Stryka. "You think tomorrow will turn out well, Stryka?" she asked the dragoness. Stryka merely yawned and heated up her rock slab bed before curling up to sleep.

"Never mind." Zenna sighed, going to sleep as well.

The next day, Zenna gathered up all the other Viking teens and their dragons and led them to the arena where Hiccup told them his plan.

"_That's _your plan? Train dragons?" Ruffnut asked in disbelief once Hiccup had finished explaining. "_Here?_ Where we used to kill them?" Tuffnut asked as well, looking around at the stone walls.

"Right…because we don't do that anymore. That's why it's available." Hiccup replied, readying the things needed for the training session.

"Actually, the dragons do seem a little nervous." Astrid remarked, gently petting Stormfly who, along with all the other dragons, was nervously fidgeting about.

Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, Barf and Belch could remember all the torturous times they had in the Dragon Killing Arena. And those torturous times were, well…torturous.

"That's because they're very _sensitive_." Fishlegs stated, cuddling his Gronckle. "Meatlug, especially. She lost a cousin here." He said before whispering, "We try not to talk about it."

"Well this place was pending for demolition. It'd be such a waste to get rid of the arena when it can still be useful to the village." Zenna pointed out.

"It's amazing your dad just _gave _us the arena." Astrid remarked, amazed at how quickly Hiccup had put this whole plan together. "Well, it would be, if he _did_, yeah, but, he didn't, so that's another thing we should try not to talk about." Hiccup admitted, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Wait, so we're going behind your father's back?" Astrid asked suspiciously. "There you go! Talking about it! Uh…" Hiccup sighed, still hoping the plan would still work.

"Did you know about this?" Ruffnut asked Zenna who shyly said, "Maybe…"

Tuffnut gave her a look that clearly said he wasn't buying her story. "Okay, yes! It _is_ kind of risky but I have to admit that his plan is a sensible solution to the dilemma." Zenna admitted.

"And you actually agreed to his idea?" Snotlout asked. "Yeah, pretty much." Zenna shrugged, as if this was something perfectly ordinary to her.

"You've got a true friend there, Hiccup." Fishlegs turned to the auburn headed teen. Hiccup smiled a bit.

Ever since he was a kid, Zenna had always stood by his side no matter what. Even after all these years, she's always had his back. A friend like Zenna is really hard to find. And Hiccup is truly blessed to have her as his best human friend.

"So what now, Hicc?" Zenna then turned to him, her violet eye sparkling with anticipation. Feeling a lot better knowing that Zenna was with him on this to the very end, Hiccup stepped up to face all of his friends.

"Alright. Everybody, here's the thing. The dragons are out of control. We want them to live in our world without destroying it but they can't without our help." He stated.

Everyone listened as he continued. "They've been blowing things up in the village…we've gotta do something about that." Hiccup said seriously. "And we need to do it as quickly as possible." Zenna helpfully added.

Unfortunately some people (_AKA the Twins_) misinterpreted the two friends' words.

"Got it! Help dragons blow things up. We can totally do that." Tuffnut said gleefully. "No. I believe I said-…" Hiccup tried to correct them only to be interrupted by Ruffnut.

"Here's how we're gonna do it: First, we make them really, really angry…" Ruffnut began. "I believe that is _not _what…" Zenna decided to try correcting the female Thorston before Tuffnut interrupted again.

"No problem. We anger _everybody_." Tuffnut snickered. Before the Twins could get another word in edgewise, Zenna covered their mouths with her hands and silenced them.

"No, you guys, this is serious! Mildew wants all of our dragons caged. And I don't know about you, but that's not okay with me." Hiccup said sternly. "Or me." Zenna agreed, taking her hands off the Twins' mouths.

"You're right. She's sorry." Tuffnut said, smirking at Ruffnut who just glared at him.

Hiccup decided to move on. "Okay then. Next problem…" he then took out a hard loaf of bread from the basket he had set out in front of the team and walked over to Toothless.

"The dragons are eating everything in sight. Now, when a dragon grabs something it's not supposed to have…" Hiccup then allowed Toothless to take the loaf into his mouth.

"You can get him to drop it by giving him a little scratch just below the chin." Saying this, Hiccup performed a demonstration and Toothless immediately dropped the loaf of bread.

"It also helps if you reinforce this with a firm yet gentle way." Zenna advised as Stryka dug her snout into the basket and pulled out another loaf.

"Stryka, that's not for you." Zenna said firmly before gently scratching the dragoness just below her chin, making her drop the bread.

Snotlout then came up and took both loaves from the two teens' hands.

"Maybe those work for you two and Toothless and Stryka. But Hookfang and me? We do things a little different." Snotlout said, marching up to his Monstrous Nightmare.

"Oh, this should be educationally interesting." Zenna smirked as Hookfang took the bread from Snotlout.

"When I want this big boy to do something I just get right in his face and-DROP THAT RIGHT NOW! YOU HEAR ME?!" Snotlout suddenly yelled in Hookfang's face.

In response, Hookfang dropped the bread…and then, took Snotlout into his mouth next. "See? He dropped it." Snotlout said, his voice muffled. "So he did, so he did." Zenna chuckled, liking how this lesson was going.

"Should we help him?" Tuffnut asked blankly. "Yeah. In a minute." Astrid answered his question, an amused look on her face.

Hiccup then decided it was time to do some on-site training. "Alright. We've got a lot of training to do but together we can keep these dragons under control." He said before he and everyone else left the arena to start training in the village, leaving Snotlout and Hookfang behind.

"Uh…can somebody do that chin scratchy thing? Hello? You guys still there?" Snotlout asked only to get silence as his answer.

After a couple of minutes though, Zenna came back. As annoying the Jorgenson boy is, she had to help.

"Spit him out, Hookfang." She commanded and the Monstrous Nightmare obeyed.

"How come he listens to you?" Snotlout whined, trying to get rid of his dragon's flammable spit. "It's because I'm a lot nicer." Zenna rolled her eye before dragging him out of the arena to join the others.

To the seven Viking teens' surprise when they got to the village, the whole place was quiet and dragon-free.

"Huh. No dragons." Fishlegs quipped.

"That was easy." Ruffnut said.

"Lunch?" Snotlout asked nobody in particular. "Is food all you ever think about?" Zenna asked, slightly irked.

Hiccup, on the other hand, was worried and suspicious. "That's weird. If the dragons aren't here, where are they?" he wondered out loud.

A loud explosion coming from the area where the village food storage was answered him.

"Something tells me that way." Astrid told Hiccup. "Oh, this ought to be bad…" Zenna groaned, shaking her head as they all ran to the food storage warehouse only to find the dragons eating all the food for the freeze!

In fact…

"Stormfly?" "Hookfang?" Astrid and Snotlout were shocked to see their dragons partaking in the stolen feast.

Stoick was with Zenna's parents, hoping to salvage some of the precious food but to no avail.

"They've eaten everything! We've got nothing left for the freeze!" Stoick exclaimed. Serpent and Serpentine had their heads in two barrels of fish but were immediately caught by Edgar and Henna.

"Serpent, shame on you!" Zenna's father scolded the left head.

"Serpentine, I've raised you better than this!" Henna sternly told the right head.

The maroon Zippleback looked at each other sheepishly and cooed their apology. But they weren't the only ones in trouble…so were the seven Viking teens. And at that moment, Mildew decided to make an appearance.

"I warned you, Stoick. But did you listen to me? No. You put a bunch of teenagers in charge!" he said, glaring at the seven teens in question.

"Now look what the dragons have done! Caging is too good for those beasts." Mildew rambled on. "If anybody should be put in a cage, it's you Mildew!" Zenna shouted angrily.

"Zen!" both Edgar and Henna exclaimed in shock.

"Dad, I swear Zenna and I can this. We-we were just starting to-…" Hiccup stuttered in an attempt to reason with his father but got cut off.

"Enough, Hiccup! How can I trust you and Zenna to control all the dragons, when the two of you couldn't even control your own?" Stoick said sharply.

At that point, Hiccup and Zenna both noticed Toothless and Stryka sharing a fish with each other.

"Oh, Toothless…" Hiccup sighed. "Stryka, really?" Zenna said, incredulous.

"Bucket! Mulch! Man the boats! We need another catch!" Stoick ordered the two fishermen, tossing them two fishnets.

"It's too late, Stoick. It took us _six months _to catch all that fish." Mulch told him. "Don't tell me it's too late! We've got to try!" Stoick insisted.

Mulch decided it was worth a try and said, "Of course we do!" before pegging the blame on Bucket saying, "Uh, don't tell the Chief it's too late. You're always so negative!"

Bucket sighed. "I don't know what it is with me." He said helplessly.

Hiccup and Zenna, on the other hand, were desperate to change the Chief's mind about the dragons.

"Chief, just give us another chance! We were just starting!" Zenna pleaded, her violet eye shining with concern. "Dad, please! You gotta listen to me. Zenna and I know dragons better than-" Hiccup managed to say before Stoick turned to face him and Zenna.

"Not now, Hiccup. I have a village to feed. The dragons have done enough damage. By tonight, I want every one of them caged. Understand?" he said sternly.

Hiccup and Zenna both opened their mouths to protest when Mildew butted in. "Bah! You can't just cage these dragons! You need to send them away now!" he barked.

"Stoick, Mildew's right!" "Get 'em out of here!" the villagers cried out.

Stoick had no choice. "You're right, Mildew." He said, making his son and his best human friend look at him in horror.

"We'll cage them tonight, and in the morning, Hiccup and Zenna will send them off the island." Stoick told the old man before looking at Hiccup.

"I'm sorry, son." He apologized and left.

"This is so unfair!" Zenna exclaimed, turning around and seeing her parents worriedly cuddling Serpent and Serpentine who were now shaking at the thought of being caged.

"Hiccup, what do we do _now?_" Zenna asked worriedly. And for the first time in a long while, Hiccup could only respond with, "…I…don't know…"

That evening, the seven Viking teens were at the Great Hall moping. All the dragons were outside, save for Toothless and Stryka who were at Hiccup and Zenna's sides, and were dreading going into the cages later tonight.

"I can't believe we have to send them away." Snotlout said, dejected. "It's gonna be weird. I got used to Stormfly's face being the first thing I see every morning." Astrid mumbled as she stirred her cocoa, the cream forming a milky image of a Deadly Nadder.

"Every night before I went to sleep, Meatlug would lick my feet." Fishlegs said sadly. His friends merely looked at him, shocked and also confused on why his dragon would even do that.

"Who's gonna do that now?!" Fishlegs wailed, slumping forward onto the table. "I volunteer Tuffnut!" Ruffnut offered. Her twin brother was too glum to even care. "Whatever. What time should I be there?" he said miserably.

Finally the time came for the dragons to be caged…

"Come on, guys. Let's get this over with." Astrid sighed, getting off the bench followed by the four other depressed Viking teens.

"This is the worst day of my life! We're never gonna see our dragons again!" Fishlegs wailed as he and the others left, leaving Hiccup and Zenna with their two Night Furies.

"We can't let that happen!" Hiccup said loudly before looking at his dragon. "Toothless is the best friend I've ever had." He said softly, petting the male Night Fury.

Then he realized that Zenna was _with _him.

"Oh! Uh, Zen I didn't…" Hiccup said awkwardly, unsure of what to say. "It's cool, Hicc. I can't really compete with the friendship between a boy and his dragon, after all." Zenna laughed good-naturedly before cuddling Stryka.

"The same thing goes for me and Stryka. She's the best friend I've ever had as well." She admitted as Stryka nuzzled her.

That's when Mildew decided to drop in. "Oh! Toothless, Stryka, I'm gonna miss you both so much!" he said mockingly, making both teens' blood boil.

It took all their combined effort to just glare at the old man instead of letting Toothless and Stryka attack him.

"You know what both of your mistake was? Thinking dragons could be trained. A dragon's gonna do what a dragon's gonna do. It's their nature." Mildew told them and as he began to leave the Great Hall added, "And nature always wins."

"It's official. I hate that guy." Zenna deadpanned but still had a murderous gleam in her eye. Toothless and Stryka both growled in agreement.

Then as Mildew opened the door, the wind blew in and put the fire in the main pit out. Toothless and Stryka both shot out fireballs and reignited it.

"Oh! Thank you, Toothless and Stryka." One Viking woman said gratefully, warming herself by the fire.

"At least _somebody _appreciates the dragons and everything they've done for us…" Zenna sighed.

Hiccup meanwhile, pondered on Mildew's words. And upon seeing Toothless and Stryka use their instincts on the fire, an idea began to form in his mind.

'_A dragon's gotta do…what a…dragon's gotta do…_'

Suddenly, it hit him.

"You know what? Mildew is absolutely right!" Hiccup suddenly said. Zenna looked at him in shock and said, "Have you gone out of your mind?" incredibly confused.

"No, Zen! A dragon's gotta do what a dragon's gotta do because it's their nature! We can use that to our advantage!" Hiccup explained hurriedly.

Zenna thought about it for a split second and realization hit her, making her face light up. "Of course! We work _with _them instead of against them!" she clapped her hands in delight.

"Exactly!" Hiccup nodded and turned to Toothless. "Come on, bud!" he and his loyal Night Fury took off, Zenna and Stryka close at their heels.

"We still have a chance, girl!" Zenna told Stryka as they quickly left the Great Hall with the boys.

Meanwhile, the other Viking teens had flown their dragons to the arena where they were to be caged for the night. And the following morning, sent away from Berk.

"Goodbye, Hookfang." Snotlout said, sadly stroking his stubborn Monstrous Nightmare's chin.

"I'm sorry, Stormfly." Astrid apologized to her Deadly Nadder. Stormfly warbled sadly and nuzzled her Rider.

"Now, go." Astrid motioned to her dragon with her torch to join the other dragons. Stormfly obediently yet reluctantly followed.

As the dragons went inside the cage, their Riders watched on feeling just as miserable as they were.

"Ugh. Feels like big, sharp teeth are tearing at this thing inside my chest." Snotlout said uncomfortably. "That's what it feels like when your heart is breaking." Astrid said in a broken voice.

Snotlout looked at her and said, "I don't have a heart! I'm not a girl." But honestly, Snotlout knew he had a heart. And right now, he was sure it was breaking like all the others.

As the cage began to close, the dragons stared sadly at their Riders and they sadly stared back as well. Just as the cage was halfway closed…two voices were heard through the night.

"_Don't close it!_"

Hiccup, Toothless, Zenna and Stryka flew down to the arena and landed. Getting off their dragons, Hiccup and Zenna quickly pushed back the lever controlling the cage door and let the dragons out, much to their and their Riders' relief.

"We are not locking them up." Hiccup said seriously. "What happened? Did you change your father's mind?" Astrid asked Hiccup, excited until she saw Zenna shaking her head with a knowing smirk on her face.

"Or are we going behind his back again?" Astrid then asked, suspiciously this time. "Like we always do every time we come up with a plan." Zenna said knowingly.

Hiccup blushed, a bit embarrassed. "Uh…one of those." He admitted. "Namely the '_going behind your father's back_' part." Zenna told him, crossing her arms.

"Look." Hiccup said, making sure every one of his friends was listening before going on, "The dragons are gonna do what they're gonna do. It's their nature. We just need to learn how to use it!" he finished.

"How are we gonna do that?" Fishlegs asked, confused. "We let the dragons do what their nature tells them to do. We just have to be there to guide them so they won't cause any trouble." Zenna explained.

"Wouldn't this be not listening to the Chief's orders?" Tuffnut asked. "Yeah, aren't we gonna get in trouble?" Ruffnut added. "It's disobedience to authority, yes. And we _will _probably get into trouble big time. But what choice do we have?" Zenna shrugged.

"_Awesome!_" the Twins yelled, banging their helmets together.

"Is this really gonna work?" Snotlout raised an eyebrow. "Come on, 'Lout. While it is risky, it's guaranteed to show everyone that the dragons can co-exist with us." Zenna pointed out, making the burly Viking teen go, "Okay, whatever works."

"Alright. Tomorrow, Zenna and I will tell you what you and your dragons have to do." Hiccup said, dismissing the rest of the Viking teens.

"Make sure your dragons stay hidden until tomorrow morning!" Zenna called after them as they rode their dragons home.

When their friends had left, Hiccup and Zenna looked at each other. "I sure hope this works…" Hiccup mumbled under his breath. "Don't worry, Hiccup. Your plans _always _work out in the end." Zenna reassured him.

Hiccup looked at her, an amused look on his face. "What do you mean _in the end_', Zenna?" he asked. "Well let's be honest, things usually go wrong in the middle of your plan sometimes." Zenna admitted, not noticing that Hiccup had managed to take one of her battle sticks from under her nose.

Hiccup then gave Zenna a playful poke in the ribs making her double over in surprise! "Hey!" Zenna exclaimed while her friend laughed. In retaliation, Zenna poked Hiccup back with her other stick!

"Hey!" Hiccup laughed in protest. "_You _started it!" Zenna giggled. Toothless and Stryka rumbled in amusement as they watched their Riders poke each other back-and-forth, laughing until they were all out of breath and decided to go home.

The next day, Bucket and Mulch were out on their boat fishing. It would take them _forever _to catch enough fish for the freeze but, like Stoick told them, they had to try.

"Ah, the nets are empty again." Mulch sighed, pulling up the nets that still hadn't caught any fish. "Did I eat them already? Did I enjoy it? Oop-am I being too negative?" Bucket asked him.

Suddenly Snotlout and Hookfang arrived along with Hiccup and Toothless, much to the two fishermen's confusion.

"Snotlout, scare us up some dinner!" Hiccup told his cousin who nodded and proceeded to do a dive right above Bucket and Mulch's boat!

"Dragon attack!" Bucket screamed as Snotlout and Hookfang dove down into the water. "Woohoo!" Snotlout gurgled as he and Hookfang chased a whole big school of fish right into the nets which Bucket and Mulch quickly pulled up onto their boat.

"Hey! Thanks dragon!" Mulch called after the duo, happy to have finally had a catch.

"That's right! That just happened!" Snotlout boasted as Zenna and Stryka arrived. "Great job, you two!" Zenna grinned, giving them a thumbs-up.

"Come on! Follow me!" Hiccup then guided them to the next task at hand-helping Mildew out with his field.

Mildew was grumpily plowing his cabbage field, muttering angrily to himself on how long the job was going to take when he heard a girl's voice call out, "Cabbage Field about to be plowed!"

"Huh?" Mildew was utterly confused until he heard the familiar shrill Night Fury shriek.

Zenna flew by and circled the field on Stryka a couple of times, alerting Astrid and Stormfly to get ready.

"Afternoon, Mildew!" Astrid greeted the old grump, Stormfly using her spiked tail to plow the field in record time.

"Three o' clock! Time for the fertilizer!" Hiccup called out. "_Fertilizer?_" Mildew repeated, dumbstruck.

"Fishlegs, Meatlug! Let 'er go!" Zenna hollered as Fishlegs and Meatlug led a group of Gronckles over to Mildew's field before looking down at Mildew and said, "You might wanna take cover, Mildew."

"Okay, Meatlug! Let 'er rip!" Fishlegs encouraged Meatlug.

His Gronckle and all the other Gronckles then heeded their calls of nature, hot dragon dung raining down onto the field. Mildew had ignored Zenna's warning but was lucky enough not to get splattered.

"Smile, Mildew! We just saved you three months of work!" Hiccup told him, smiling as he and his friends left. "You're welcome!" Zenna chirped before they were completely out of Mildew's area.

Meanwhile, the Twins were helping clear the forest of wild boars. Barf and Belch may have knocked down a few trees but, hey, at least the villagers could use them for firewood. The boars ran to an open field, giving Hiccup and Zenna the perfect opportunity to have Toothless and Stryka herd them into a barn.

"Whoohoo!" Fishlegs whooped while Gobber quickly shut the barn's doors.

"That was awesome!" the husky Ingerman boy cheered as everyone regrouped, feeling triumphant.

"How did you know that was gonna work?" Astrid asked Hiccup, amazed. "Because they're dragons, and they're gonna do what dragons do. We just have to work with them and not against them." Hiccup told her, glancing at Zenna who winked.

"You know who we should actually be thanking-?" Hiccup asked before suddenly…

"There they are, Stoick!"

"Oh boy, here comes our punishment…" Zenna rolled her eye at the sight of Mildew hobbling over to them-with her parents and Stoick.

"Zenna, what have you been doing?" Henna asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Nothing bad, we hope not?" Edgar raised an eyebrow at his daughter.

"Those dragons don't look like they're in cages to me." Mildew huffed angrily. "No. This is not what I asked for." Stoick said in agreement, looking at the seven teens with a steely gaze.

Hiccup, Astrid, Zenna, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut all looked at each other nervously while their dragons warbled worriedly.

Da-da-da, they were so, _so _dead!

In no time, almost the entire village had gathered around the arena stands to watch as Stoick, Gobber, Edgar and Henna entered the arena where the seven Viking teens were with their now currently caged dragons.

"Oh no! What's Stoick gonna do to us?" Fishlegs whimpered.

"I'm too pretty for jail!" Ruffnut complained. "Hah, where'd you hear that?" Tuffnut snickered to his twin sister.

"You all disobeyed my orders…and there will be consequences." Stoick informed the seven teens while Edgar, Henna and Gobber nodded gravely.

"I told you we were gonna get in trouble. Ugh, you never listen to me!" Astrid whispered to Hiccup who bravely stepped up to his father.

"Dad, if anyone's going to get in trouble it should be me." He declared, gesturing to himself. "If he has to go down, sir, I'm going down with him." Zenna added, loyally standing by the auburn headed teen.

"Nope. You all had a hand in this." Stoick told the duo. "And while we do not wish to _really _punish you, we have to." Henna chimed in. "That's what the seven of you get for disobeying orders." Edgar said seriously.

Mildew, meanwhile was thoroughly enjoying the spectacle with his sheep. "Oh this is going to be great, Fungus. It's about to get ugly." The old man said, excitedly waiting for the teens to be punished.

"You took over this place without asking. You released the dragons against my wishes." Stoick said, walking over to each teen as he said this and finally stood in front of the teens once more in the center.

"Things are going to change around here." He said seriously. The seven Viking teens braced themselves for their punishment, which they hoped wasn't going to be too painful.

"That's why I-" Stoick began to say before Gobber got in front of him and said, "_You're getting a Dragon Training Academy!_"

Hiccup and Zenna's mouths dropped open while their friends' eyes widened. The villagers gasped in surprise.

"Wha-?" Mildew said dumbly.

"Oh, Gob…" Henna face palmed while Edgar just shook his head.

"Gobber! I wanted to tell them!" Stoick exclaimed after his old friend had finished butting in. "I'm sorry. You're right. Go ahead." Gobber said helpfully.

"Well you told most of it!" Stoick told him exasperatedly. "You can tell him the part about how proud you are of him!" Gobber said, motioning to Hiccup who was still shocked.

"Gobber!" Stoick shouted in annoyance.

"There goes his surprise." Edgar sighed. "And it was a great surprise as well." Henna smiled knowingly as Stoick faced the teens once more.

"Hiccup well, what he said." Stoick said awkwardly. Hiccup could only look at his dad in awe as he carried on with, "You've all made me proud."

Stoick then walked over to the cage with the dragons and smiled. "This Dragon Training Academy is for you." He proclaimed, pulling the lever and released the dragons.

"Serpent!" "Serpentine!" Zenna's parents laughed as their Zippleback trotted over to them, their tail wagging.

"Hookfang! My buddy!" Snotlout cheered as his Monstrous Nightmare lifted him off the ground with his snout.

"Stormfly! I missed you so much!" Astrid cried, hugging her Nadder happily.

The Twins immediately rushed over to Barf and Belch and rubbed their heads affectionately.

"Meatlug! Oh, who's Daddy's little baby? Oh, who's Daddy's little fluffy…" Fishlegs cooed to his affectionate Gronckle.

Meanwhile two Night Furies bounded over to Hiccup and Zenna. "Hey, bud!" Hiccup happily wrapped his arms around Toothless' neck to give him a hug. "Hi, girl!" Zenna giggled, hugging Stryka as well.

Mildew was seething with anger from his perch at the stands. "Oh…I'll get those dragons yet." He muttered as Fungus bleated.

Stoick then turned to his son. "Now all you have to do is train 'em." He smiled proudly. "Not a problem, Dad. After all, I've got him." Hiccup said, petting Toothless.

"Ahem!" Zenna harrumphed, raising an eyebrow at him. "And _her._" Hiccup added, smiling knowingly.

"Ah-hem!" Astrid harrumphed this time, waiting expectantly along with the others. "And…them, too." Hiccup said, mildly scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Oh, Hiccup…" Zenna giggled as she and he slammed hands.

That evening, Hiccup finished drawing a picture of his friends with their dragons and looked at Toothless.

'_Dragons can't change who they are…_'

Toothless smiled at his best friend and curled up on his rock slab bed, heating it up before laying down to sleep as Hiccup went back to his work.

Meanwhile, Zenna and her parents were gathered around the fireplace with Stryka, Serpent and Serpentine, exchanging stories and jokes and laughing throughout the night.

'_But who would want them to?_'

Fishlegs was sleeping peacefully as Meatlug lovingly licked his feet, which was both adorable…and maybe a bit weird as well.

Astrid woke up the next morning to Stormfly's face in her bedroom window, the Nadder eager to start the day. Astrid smiled and eagerly threw off her blanket, eager to start the day as well.

'_Dragons are powerful, amazing creatures…_'

Hiccup, Zenna and all their friends then flew around the village performing errands for everyone. As they dropped a few baskets of fish into a storage unit, Hiccup and Zenna caught sight of Stoick, Edgar and Henna smiling at them proudly. Both friends smiled back as they flew to the arena.

Snotlout, Hookfang, Fishlegs and Meatlug then hung a sign bearing the Night Fury Strike Class symbol over the entrance to the arena, which is now the…

"Berk Dragon Academy." Astrid beamed at Hiccup before mildly punching him in the arm saying, "I like the sound of that."

"Now we finally have the perfect place to train our dragons and everyone else's as well. I bet in the next few years, there'll be another generation of Dragon Trainers and _we're _gonna be the ones teaching them. The adventures and possibilities are endless!" Zenna said grandly as she opened the doors of the Academy.

'_And as long as it takes us Hiccup and I are going to learn everything there is to know about them…_'

Shortly after the grand opening of the Berk Dragon Academy, the seven Dragon Riders decided to go do a few laps around the island.

Toothless and Stryka landed on a rock together before launching themselves back up into the air, Hiccup and Zenna riding on their backs.

"With the Academy now open, we've got a lot of training to do." Hiccup said, grinning. "And we've got a lot of adventures to have too. Race you!" Zenna laughed as she and Stryka flew on ahead.

"Let's go, bud!" Hiccup shouted as Toothless sped up, the Night Fury's roar happily echoing through the sky.

'…_Wouldn't you?_'


	3. Viking for Hire

**SUPER MEGA IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

**Surprise, I'm still alive :D**

**I must apologize and explain…but first, allow me to rave about HTTYD 2 which I saw last June 12…**

**Holy Shields! It was AMAZING!**

**From the visuals to the story, everything just screamed PERFECTION!**

**There was one scene that left me nearly in tears… :'(**

**But I understand Dean DeBlois' reasons for it…The story must move on in accordance to how the characters need to develop but still…**

**Now, all I can think of is "Holy Shields, HOW am I gonna make a version of the sequel with Zenna?"**

**Luckily, my brain's already coming up with ideas. I think I'll start writing the handwritten draft this week…hopefully.**

**And as for the reason why it took me so long to update, my reason is that I am now in Fourth Year High School. Since I am graduating next year and headed off to college, my updating schedule will be random for now until sem-break.**

**Again, I am so, so, SO sorry! But I will never, not ever, abandon any of my stories. I PROMISE!**

**Now, on with the story! Sorry for the long Author's Note by the way.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own HTTYD and all rights to the movie, its sequel, TV series and basically, the whole franchise belongs to DreamWorks Animation.**

**Viking for Hire**

'_Everybody needs a place in the world…_'

'_Some people are born to theirs like Chief Stoick the Vast..._'

Stoick was onboard a ship, giving orders to his men as they sailed. "Raise the main sail! Turn it toward starboard!" he ordered, his men obediently following his commands.

'_Some people discover theirs much like me and my best friend Hiccup did…_'

We then see a familiar scene.

Hiccup and Zenna, faces turned to the ground and hands outstretched, waiting for two Night Furies to trust them. Of course we all know that they did. And from that day forward both Hiccup and Zenna's lives have never been the same again, thanks to Toothless and Stryka.

'_And some people make a place for themselves…_'

Now we see the village under attack by dragons back in the old days of war. And in the forge, Gobber is crafting a sword amidst the battle. Finishing it, he puts it in a cart full of weapons and shouted to his comrades, "Grab a weapon! No time to be choosy!"

Villagers rushed to claim the dragon killing things and charged into the battle. Donning his own prosthetic weapon, Gobber joined the fight and charged with a fierce battle cry as he fought off dragons that were perched on the roofs of several houses.

'_But then the world around them changes, and the place they made is gone…_'

And now with the Vikings and Dragons at peace, battles no longer need to be fought that often anymore…

Gobber had just finished forging another sword and was just about to add it to the weapons cart when he noticed all the villagers happily flying around on their dragons. Remembering that dragons no longer needed to be killed, Gobber sighed sadly and looked at his new sword glumly.

Meanwhile in the Berk Dragon Academy, the seven teenage Dragon Trainers were busy having a Dragon Quiz Off. There were two teams battling it out for points that each consisted of three members and Hiccup was the Quizmaster.

"Every dragon has its own unique abilities that give it its own special place in the world." Hiccup stated and looked at the two teams.

"Which dragon makes the best welding torch?" Hiccup asked.

The first team to answer consisted of Astrid, Fishlegs and Zenna. "Oh! Deadly Nadder!" Astrid said eagerly. "Its magnesium flame burns with the heat of the sun!" Fishlegs said just as eager. "Making it the hottest fire in the dragon world." Zenna added calmly.

"Correct! Point to Team Astrid." Hiccup said, drawing a point onto the rock slab that functioned as the Academy's chalkboard.

"Score is now one hundred to ten." Hiccup remarked, looking at the two teams' scores. Astrid's team had absolutely dominated the other team, which consisted of Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut.

"And you started with ten." Astrid smirked at the team opposite of them. "Oh yeah? Well, the game's not over." Tuffnut declared before his expression turned into one of confusion.

"Wait, what team am I on?" he asked dumbly. "The losing team, genius." Zenna told him, snickering a bit.

"Next question. What is the shot limit of a Hideous Zippleback? Team Snotlout." Hiccup then turned to the other team, wondering if they would get it this time.

"I don't think they can count that high." Astrid remarked. "The Twins can't even count past ten." Zenna said, making Fishlegs giggle a bit.

"Oh really? Well, let's find out! Barf! Belch!" at Ruffnut's command her and her brother's Zippleback, Barf and Belch, poked their heads out from behind Team Snotlout and fired three consecutive shots.

Luckily Team Astrid ducked and the only thing that got scorched was the wall behind them. Not that it made Astrid feel any better though.

"Looks like it's about three." Tuffnut said confidently. "Told you we could count that high." Ruffnut said, triumphantly high-fiving her brother.

"It's six. You're half right. Five points." Hiccup corrected the Twins, drawing lines on the other team's side of the board.

"Yes! We're up to thirty!" Ruffnut whooped. "You two are completely hopeless." Zenna deadpanned.

"All right, it's our turn. What happens when you shoot fire at the owner of a Deadly Nadder?" Astrid asked before sharply whistling to her Deadly Nadder, Stormfly.

Stormfly immediately got up and launched a couple of spikes towards Snotlout's team, the three members getting pinned to the walls of the Academy.

"No fair! She didn't give us time to answer!" Tuffnut protested, still pinned to the wall.

Snotlout managed to get himself off the wall and was now glaring at the other team. "I've got a question. What happens when I set Hookfang on you?" he said threateningly.

Quickly Hiccup stepped in to diffuse the situation before things got ugly. "Okay guys, that's enough training. So…we did some really good work here today." He said hastily as class was dismissed.

"Can I be the Quiz Master next time, Hicc?" Zenna asked hopefully. Hiccup smiled at his best human friend and nodded.

On the other hand, Snotlout was still seeking payback for Astrid's team beating his and got on Hookfang shouting, "Prepare to face some Monstrous Nightmare!"

Suddenly Hookfang growled and flamed up, burning Snotlout's butt! "Ah! That's the third time this week!" Snotlout yelped, jumping off his dragon's back and ran to the nearest water trough and jumped in.

"Ah…Sweet relief…" he sighed. "That's strange…" Zenna muttered, looking at Hookfang carefully. The bull-headed Monstrous Nightmare looked pretty fussy today. Zenna couldn't help but wonder if something was wrong.

Hiccup also looked concerned and walked over to his cousin. "Hookfang never flames up when you're riding him. Is he okay?" he asked. "Maybe he just realized who his owner is." Astrid said jokingly.

Snotlout grinned at Astrid suavely. "There's room in here for two." He offered. In response, Astrid pushed him down lower into the water trough by his helmet and left with the others.

But Zenna stayed behind to look at Hookfang a little longer. From the way Hookfang was behaving earlier, the young girl knew something had to be amiss.

"Hey there, Hooky. You feeling alright?" she whispered softly before gently placing a hand under the Monstrous Nightmare's chin.

Hookfang's response was flinching away from her hand, making Zenna all the more worried. "It's alright, Hookfang. I'm not gonna hurt you." She said soothingly. But when she tried to get closer, that's when Hookfang decided to flame up again!

"Holy Shields! Holy Shields!" Zenna squeaked, deciding that she'd look into Hookfang's case later and fled.

Later in the plaza, Gobber had attracted a crowd with his display. Since dragon killing was out of the question, the blacksmith decided to try selling some of his weapons for other uses. Swords and daggers were repurposed as knives and hair cutting instruments along with other weapons that were now either curlers, toe nail clippers or the like.

"Gather around! Come on, one and all! You may think these dragon-killing weapons have no more use, but think again!" he announced to the crowd and held up a long sword to a slice of bread.

"This long sword is now a lovely butter knife!" Gobber said cheerfully and demonstrated. Instead of slathering on butter, the long sword turned the slice of bread into a pile of crumbs.

"Eh, it's also good for making breadcrumbs." Gobber offered only to get confused looks from the people around him.

Hiccup and Zenna had just arrived in time to hear Gobber say, "Moving on." And continue trying his luck at being a salesman.

Mildew hobbled over to stand by the two teens, an amused expression on his face. He knew just exactly what words would hurt the boy and girl and he was more than happy to use them.

"Well, this is a dark day. A great dragon slayer peddling his weapons as kitchen utensils? Hm." He asked Hiccup and Zenna.

The two of them could only watch in guilt as Gobber fumbled around with his wares. "Up next, how about this…" he mumbled and spotted a fly land on the table and grabbed a mace.

"Handy flyswatter?" he said and brought the mace down on the fly, destroying the table in the process.

"Hehe. Also good for getting rid of unwanted tables." Gobber chuckled. The villagers could only stare at him in silence. Hiccup and Zenna, in particular, found it very hard to watch.

Still determined, Gobber went over to his prized catapult whom he called Big Bertha. "Now, for the lady of the house! When the hubby's off pillaging, how are you to protect yourself from home invaders? No problem when you have Big Bertha!" Gobber said grandly, patting the old catapult.

Then he accidentally hit the switch and fired a round! Hiccup and Zenna both winced as the boulder Big Bertha had launched destroyed a roof. The man inside the house wasn't injured but was looking at the big, gaping hole in his roof in shock. How was he going to fix this before his wife got home?

The crowd then picked that moment to leave, much to Gobber's dismay. "Hey wait! There's more! You haven't seen everything yet! I haven't cleared out my dungeon yet!" Gobber pleaded. But the people had already left, leaving Hiccup, Zenna and Mildew in the town square.

"It's okay, Bertha. We'll find a place for you." Gobber sighed to his catapult, ignoring the three bystanders' presence and left.

"Ah, it's hard to watch. Especially for you two, eh, Hiccup and Zenna? The feelings of guilt must be tearing at both of your insides. I mean, you two put him out of business with your little peace pact with the dragons. You two ruined his life. _Bravo!_" Mildew gloated and left.

"As much as I hate Mildew, I have to admit…That was really hard to watch. Poor Gobber…" Zenna confessed, looking incredibly guilty. Hiccup sighed and watched his mentor hobble away.

Was Mildew right? Had he and Zenna _really _ruined Gobber's life?

Those questions continued to plague Hiccup until that night as he stayed inside the house with Toothless.

"You know, Gobber made this for me? He taught me _everything _I needed to know to make your tail." Hiccup told his best dragon friend, showing his metal left leg.

Toothless crooned in concern as his best friend said, "I've gotta find some way to help him." The great Night Fury also liked the two-limbed blacksmith. Gobber had made the new tail fin he was using now as well as the eye patch for Stryka. Toothless felt like he also had to help as it was the least he could do for Gobber since he had helped him and his mate before.

The two best friends could only sit there and ponder on what to do when Stoick the Vast, Chief of Berk and Hiccup's father, came inside the house. With a tired sigh, the great Viking sat down on his chair.

"Tough day at chiefdom, Dad?" Hiccup asked. "I was all over the island." Stoick wearily sighed. Hiccup then went to a barrel of mead to get his father a drink, who was rattling off a list of the many things he had to do as Chief.

"I married the Svenson girl to the Odegard boy at dawn. Then down to the fields where some kids were tipping over yaks. Then back up to the newlyweds to settle a domestic dispute. I guess that honeymoon is over." Stoick said as Hiccup handed him his tankard.

Hiccup nodded understandingly and went to the fireplace and grabbed a small log to add to the fire.

"Sometimes, I wish there were two of me."

Hiccup promptly dropped the log when he heard his Dad say those words. The gears in his brain immediately whirred into high gear and an idea popped into Hiccup's head.

"Dad, there _are _two of you!" Hiccup exclaimed. But Stoick got the wrong idea and glared at his son. "Is that another crack about my weight?" he asked, peeved.

"No, I mean _Gobber._ He can be the other you." Hiccup explained, while also thinking that maybe his father would be far better off losing a _little bit _of weight.

Stoick raised an eyebrow. "Gobber? But he's way too busy making all those dragon-killing…" he said before noticing the slightly hurt look on Hiccup's face.

"Well, used to be, until you…" Stoick said awkwardly, making Hiccup hurt even more on the inside.

"Which is great. Except for Gobber." At this point, Stoick had given up and just decided to be slightly blunt. "Exactly my point!" his son told him.

Stoick thought about it for a little bit until he finally said, "You know, that's actually not such a bad idea! I could use a right hand!"

"Which works out great, 'cuz that's kind of the only one he has." Hiccup pointed out as his father went to bed. He then looked at Toothless and smiled.

"Let's get some sleep, bud. We've got a full day tomorrow." Hiccup told his dragon gently. Toothless nodded and yawned, going upstairs to sleep along with his Rider.

While Hiccup and Toothless slept, Zenna and Stryka were still up and at Hookfang's stable. "He's probably just being stubborn again, lass. Why bother?" Spitelout, Snotlout's father, had grumbled when the young girl showed up on his doorstep and asked to check out on his son's dragon.

Zenna just knew that something was wrong with the Monstrous Nightmare and had insisted on examining the dragon. Finally, Spitelout agreed.

Now, Zenna was standing inches away from Hookfang. And Stryka was right behind her, warbling worriedly. Zenna carefully crept closer to Hookfang who was just staring at her, curious on what the one-eyed girl was about to do.

"Don't worry, Hookfang. I'm just here to find out what's wrong. And I'm gonna help make the pain go away so…just…stay still now…" Zenna whispered soothingly as she finally reached Hookfang and gently placed her hand on his snout.

Stryka then cried out in concern. "Relax, Stryka. I'm okay." Zenna reassured the female Night Fury as she carefully checked for any visible injuries.

Hookfang was doing fine…until Zenna moved her hand to under his chin. Suddenly, Hookfang roared and reared up, flames cloaking his entire body!

"Oh, Thor's Hammer!" Zenna yelped as she jumped back in shock. Stryka roared and quickly took action. Shielding her Rider with one wing, Stryka fired a weak plasma blast at Hookfang's snout. Snotlout's Monstrous Nightmare stumbled backwards into his stable and hit his head on a ceiling beam and got knocked out.

"That…was a close one!" Zenna breathed out as Hookfang fell, unconscious, to the ground. Stryka crooned worriedly and licked her cheek.

"Well at least Hookfang's knocked out. Maybe it'll be easier this time." Zenna quipped, going over to Hookfang again. Stryka groaned and quickly grabbed Zenna by her tunic and dragged her away.

"Stryka, come on! If Toothless was having a problem you'd help him, right?!" Zenna exclaimed as her dragon pulled her away from Hookfang's stable. Stryka grunted and slightly nodded. Of course she was worried about Hookfang but she didn't like her Rider risking herself getting hurt just to help him!

Seeing that Stryka was adamant about not letting her try again, Zenna reluctantly took her leave and went home thinking, '_Something's definitely bothering Hookfang. It didn't look like he had any external injuries…so maybe there's something wrong with him internally! And I gotta find out what it is-fast!_'

The next day however, Zenna was unable to continue her plans to examine Hookfang due to two reasons.

One: She had to help Hiccup in planning the Dragon Academy lessons the whole day in the Cove where they could do it peacefully without anyone disturbing them.

Two: Stryka absolutely refused to let her go.

While Zenna, Hiccup, Stryka and Toothless spent their entire day at the Cove, Gobber had started helping Stoick in chiefing.

"I greatly appreciate your helping me out, Gobber." Stoick told the blond two-limbed Viking that morning in the village. "I'm just glad I could find some time in my busy schedule, Stoick." Gobber said casually, hiding the fact that he had a lot of free time because of his weapons-making business going downhill.

"I've got a full day ahead of me." Stoick told him, tearing a piece of parchment where he had written his to-do list in half. "Here's your half." He said, handing one half to Gobber.

Gobber took a look at the list curiously.

**Welcome a new baby to the Hooligan Clan**

**Settle a dispute between Bucket and Mulch**

**Fix broken ship**

"Oh, this'll be interesting." Gobber said amusedly. This was going to be easy!

"Now remember, some of these situations are delicate. They require _diplomacy._" Stoick reminded him. "Ah, no problem. I'm great at…that." Gobber said, not really giving it much thought.

Stoick was amazed. "Really? You? You can speak to people with tact and sensitivity?" he asked in amazement. That's when Gobber realized was something entirely different to what he had in mind. "Oh, I thought it meant clubbing people on the head and asking questions later. But I can give your thing a shot." The two-limbed Viking said with ease and left.

Watching his friend go off to do his part of the job, Stoick sighed and murmured a quick prayer to the gods in Valhalla before leaving as well to do some chiefing.

In the Great Hall, Gobber stood in front of a crowd of people along with the new baby to be welcomed into the tribe with its parents.

"Whosoever brings this child forth into the Hooligan tribe, let he be known!" Gobber announced. The baby's father then brought forth the fussing infant and Gobber cradled it in his good arm.

"As a representative of the Chief, I welcome this baby into the Hooligan tribe. And I pronounce the name to be…" At Gobber's words, the baby's father then whispered the name to the blacksmith.

Hildegard was to be their daughter's name!

"Eeh? _Hildegard?_ Doesn't seem like a Hildegard to me." Gobber frowned before brightening up with, "Let's go with Magnus."

"But she's a girl, Gobber!" the baby's mother protested. "Don't worry, she's not gonna look like one." Gobber reassured her.

"Magnus it is!" Gobber then proclaimed, much to the baby's misfortune and her parents' horror. But that didn't stop there. Gobber then said, "And please accept this teething toy on behalf of Stoick the Vast." And pulled out a gigantic mace!

"NO!" the baby's mother shrieked, quickly taking her daughter back along with her husband. Gobber didn't stick around for too long to hear…Magnus' parents complain. Leaving the Great Hall, the blond peg-legged Viking went up to Bucket and Mulch's house to settle a dispute of Mulch buying a sheep from Bucket without paying him.

"Bucket says you never paid him for the sheep!" Gobber told Mulch once he had the two on standing parallel facing each other.

"I never bought a sheep!" Mulch said defensively.

Suddenly, the three Vikings heard a bleat coming from a sheep just behind Mulch!

"Who's that? A little woman?" Gobber asked, suspiciously raising an eyebrow.

"Oh Mulch. You're cheating me now." Bucket said miserably.

"Clearly there's only one way to settle this." Gobber then handed the two men weapons and left them to fight it out.

"Diplomacy? Check. All right, what's next?" Gobber asked himself, ignoring the sounds of battle coming from the inside of the house.

Gobber's last job for the day was to fix a wrecked ship. It would've been a job well done…if Gobber had used wood instead of iron to fix the giant hole in the ship's hull.

"I know the conventional thinking when repairing a ship is wood. But if you ask me, there's nothing like a good old slab of iron." Gobber told the fisherman who owned the ship as he hammered in one last nail.

That's when Stoick returned, followed by Magnus and her unhappy parents and a bruised Bucket and black-and-blue Mulch.

"Gobber! What do you think you're doing?" Stoick bellowed, not at all pleased at how his partner had done his part of the job.

"Just checking another item off the list." Gobber said nonchalantly and gave the repaired ship a good thump with his hammer hand. The boat then slid off the ramp it was on, floated onto the ocean…and sank like a piece of metal.

After a few seconds of silence, Gobber then took out his list. And adding an item for later. '_Recover sunken ship._' Same time tomorrow?" Gobber looked at Stoick who just held his head in his hand and sighed while trying to ignore Magnus' crying.

Hiccup and Zenna had finished their lesson planning and were now back at the village. Along the way, they saw all the Vikings that had been serviced by Gobber.

And they weren't happy.

"Something tells me your plan of making Gobber your Dad's right hand man backfired, Hicc." Zenna quipped. Hiccup took one look at the Gobber-caused damage and paled.

Oh, was he gonna be in trouble when his Dad got home…

Stoick wearily trudged into the house, massaging his aching temples. Hiccup had been waiting for him and already had a couple of ice blocks ready.

"Here you go, Dad." Hiccup handed his father two ice blocks. Stoick gratefully took them in his hands and pressed them to both sides of his head, groaning in exhaustion.

"Wow. A two-block headache. You know Dad, I think you're being a wee bit rough on Gobber. It was his first day. Tomorrow will be way better." Hiccup tried to reassure Stoick…and also himself.

"Oh, it will be for me. Because it won't involve Gobber." Stoick told him firmly. "What do you mean?" Hiccup asked, shocked.

"I tried to fit a square peg in a round hole, and it sunk a ship and named a baby girl Magnus! Now I'm not saying she didn't look like a Magnus, but try telling that to her parents." Stoick exclaimed.

Hiccup stood in front of his Dad, stunned. After a few seconds, he got his voice back. "I can't believe you let him go! Well, we've got to help him!" Hiccup exclaimed.

"_We _don't have to do anything. _You,_ on the other hand, are going to be very busy finding a job for Gobber." Stoick told him before leaving to go to bed.

Hiccup ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. Thinking that Zenna might have an idea, Hiccup let Toothless sleep and went to Zenna's house by himself.

What he didn't expect to see was Zenna running back to her house with Stryka frantically blowing on a small lick of flame at the back of her tunic!

"Holy Shields! Someone help me!" Zenna shrieked, running circles around Hiccup who luckily spotted a bucket of water nearby and tossed it into her face.

Stryka sighed a dragon sigh of relief as Zenna shook the excess water off her body. "Thanks…I think…" the one-eyed girl breathed out.

"What were you up to, Zen?" Hiccup asked, worried that she might be having serious problems. "I tried to examine Hookfang again and he kind of flamed up on me. There's got to be something wrong in him…" Zenna muttered, wringing out the water in her hair.

"_In _him?" Hiccup repeated, confused. "I examined him yesterday and he didn't have any injuries whatsoever. So the logical explanation is that something's bugging Hookfang on the inside. It could be indigestion, a toothache…" Zenna said before looking at Hiccup strangely.

"Oh yeah, what brings you here to my doorstep?" she asked curiously. Hiccup took a deep breath and then let it out before asking, "Would you call me crazy if I suggested we let Gobber teach at the Academy tomorrow?"

Stryka's toothless jaw dropped along with Zenna's.

"I had a feeling you'd react like that." Hiccup sighed. "That is absolutely ludicrous. Gobber, our old _Dragon Killing_ teacher, teach Dragon _Training?_ It's a surefire recipe for disaster!" Zenna exclaimed.

"Zen, I don't really have much to go on now…Can we at least try?" Hiccup said pleadingly. Zenna looked at Stryka and then to her best human friend. Hiccup was looking pretty frazzled and tired…she just couldn't say no.

"All right, we'll let him in tomorrow. While I'm sure it's going to be mayhem, it's worth a try." Zenna said at last. Hiccup smiled gratefully and Zenna smiled back.

"Well, I better go before I get a chill. See you tomorrow." Zenna then proceeded to go inside with Stryka when Hiccup stopped her.

"Wait!"

Zenna turned to see Hiccup give her a worried look. "While I'm glad you're trying to help Hookfang, Zen, promise me you won't do anything too drastic." Hiccup requested. "Okay, if it makes you less worried." Zenna shrugged before going inside her house.

Hiccup then quietly went back home and went to bed, hoping that everything would go smoothly tomorrow at the Academy…

The next day after all the Dragon Trainers had assembled in the Academy, Hiccup told them of his plan to let Gobber teach the class for today. While Zenna was not surprised, she was still rather apprehensive of the idea and the others were pretty much shocked.

"You're bringing Gobber…_here?_" Fishlegs asked in shock. "He's gonna be great. Nobody knows dragons like old Gobber. He's spent a lifetime…studying them." Hiccup reassured him.

"And by studying, he means gutting them up back when it was still a time of war." Zenna said to nobody in particular, making the dragons shudder.

Hiccup decided to ignore her claim and focused on the bright side. "If we can tap into that, we'll all be better dragon trainers." He said brightly.

That's when Gobber burst into the Academy, with a cart filled with weapons. "I'm back! Did you miss me?" the old blacksmith said in a jolly tone.

The dragons took one look at the weapons cart Gobber had with them and recoiled in terror. "And the madness begins…" Zenna muttered under her breath, eyeing the load of deadly instruments warily.

Hiccup, already starting to regret his decisions, looked at his mentor. "First of all, welcome. And second…tiny question, why did you bring your, you know…?" he asked uncertainly.

"Killing things?" Gobber replied and began to root through his stash. "I thought maybe we could train them by threatening to kill them. That's how my daddy taught me to swim." Gobber said, pulling out a sword.

The dragons flinched in terror and got ready to take flight. This was one dragon training lesson they'd prefer to skip!

Gobber then hoisted out a spike ball, the heavy metal ball of spikes crashing onto the Academy's stone floor and making a huge dent.

"School's in session!" Gobber called out merrily.

Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, Barf and Belch then scurried out of the Academy's doors and took to the skies.

"Eh. I didn't like school either." Gobber remarked casually while Hiccup face palmed.

"Gobber, maybe we should hold off that lesson of yours for now…" Zenna suggested carefully. "We…need to…go get our…dragons now." Astrid agreed with her.

"Oh, all right. Suit yourselves." Gobber then sauntered out of the Academy, much to everyone's relief.

As soon as the two-limbed Viking was out of sight, Astrid marched up to Hiccup and socked him in the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Hiccup yelped. "Bringing Gobber here to the Academy! Didn't you think this through, Hiccup?!" the blonde shield maiden exclaimed.

"No, he did not." Zenna told her. "Zen!" Hiccup cried out in protest.

Astrid sighed and turned to the rest of the teens. "Come on, guys. We need to get our dragons back." She told them. The rest quickly followed and left Hiccup and Zenna in the Academy.

"Thanks for defending me earlier by the way. _Really _appreciated it." Hiccup said sarcastically to Zenna. "I'm sorry, Hicc. But technically, Gobber as a Dragon Training teacher is not exactly an ideal profession for such a violent person like him." The one-eyed girl replied.

"Gobber's not violent! He's just, well a little…" Hiccup trailed off, unable to think of anything. "Crazy and eccentric?" Zenna finished for him. "Exactly." Hiccup sighed.

So far, things are not looking well with Gobber's job…and Hiccup's attempts to find him one.

Five hours later, Astrid and the others returned to the Academy. Hiccup and Zenna were busy preparing to go on a search flight with Toothless and Stryka when their friends returned, all having aching rear ends and sore backs.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Hiccup questioned. "You were all gone for a while. The two of us were planning to go look for you." Zenna said.

Astrid groaned and attempted to straighten her spine. "Ugh, we've been riding our dragons for _four _hours. It took _forever _to chase them down after Gobber scared them away." She muttered, shooting an angry look at Stormfly as she said the last sentence.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I just don't know what to do with him." Hiccup said apologetically. Then he noticed Ruffnut kicking Tuffnut's butt over and over again.

"Break it up, you two!" Zenna scolded them. Ruffnut ignored her and kept kicking her twin brother's rear.

"Do you guys always have to fight?" Hiccup asked the two Thorstons, a little irritated. "It's okay. I asked her to do that. Just trying to get the feeling back." Tuffnut explained, straightening up.

"You gonna return the favor, or what?" Ruffnut asked her brother, turning her back to Tuffnut and bent down.

"Four hours of flying can do that, I guess." Zenna said understandingly. "Zenna and I've flown for hours on Toothless and Stryka and we've never had a problem." Hiccup said confusedly. "That's because both of you have a saddle." Astrid pointed out, looking at Toothless and Stryka wearing their saddles.

That's when Hiccup and Zenna both looked at each other and both had the same idea.

"_Saddles!_" the two friends said in realization.

"Astrid, you're a genius!" Hiccup told the great shield maiden and gave her a quick peck on the cheek before running out of the Academy with Toothless.

Astrid just stood there, stunned and pressing a hand to the cheek where Hiccup had kissed her. "You okay there, Astrid?" Zenna smirked, her eye gleaming in mischief.

"Don't you have to go be with Hiccup?" Astrid asked sharply, feeling her cheeks burn. "Indeed I do. Later!" Zenna chuckled and hurried along with Stryka to catch up with their boys.

Hiccup and Toothless had made it to the forge before Zenna and Stryka. After proposing the idea of taking up saddle making, Hiccup waited for Gobber to say something.

"Saddles? I love it! I've got so many ideas!" the two-limbed blacksmith said happily before looking at the design plans his apprentice had handed him.

"But not like these. Good ones." He said, giving Hiccup his plans back and got to work. "I'm glad you're excited. But I still think there are some things in my designs you could use. I mean, you did teach me everything I know." Hiccup reasoned with him just as Zenna and Stryka came.

"Hey, Toothless. Are things going well?" Zenna asked the male Night Fury. Toothless just warbled at her and shrugged his wings. Stryka purred and nuzzled her mate as she watched her mate's Rider talk with the blond, mustached blacksmith.

"Exactly. That's why you should let Gobber do what Gobber does best. I've been making saddles since you were in diapers. In fact, I _made _your diapers." Gobber said to Hiccup, facing him.

"Okay, that was something I did _not _need to know…" Zenna mumbled upon seeing her friend's slightly uncomfortable look.

"I know you know what you're doing. But keep in mind, every dragon is different. So you need to adjust-" Hiccup managed to say as Gobber turned back to his worktable.

"Hiccup." Gobber interrupted.

"But—"

"Hiccup."

"But, I just think—"

"Hicc. Up." Gobber said, putting down a hammer on the table and turned to face Hiccup again. "I may have taught you everything you know. But I haven't taught you everything _I _know." He insisted.

"He's got a point there, Hiccup." Zenna said in agreement. "See? Zenna understands true brilliance when she sees it." Gobber grinned. Finally, Hiccup nodded and let his old mentor get back to work.

Later that evening, a blacksmith's song could be heard throughout the village.

"I've got my axe and I've got my mace, and I love my wife with the ugly face! I'm a Viking through and through! Hmmm."

Hiccup, Toothless, Stryka and Zenna watched from afar and saw that the forge was alive with light from the fire pit.

"Somebody's happy." Zenna smiled. Stryka nodded in agreement.

"You know, he doesn't sing that song unless he's actually very happy. I think we did a good thing." Hiccup said to Toothless who rumbled happily in agreement.

The following morning, Hiccup stood in front of the rest of the Dragon Trainers with Toothless by his side.

"Alright this is an exciting day for all of us. Gobber has been working hard to—" he began when a familiar two-limbed Viking strode into the Academy with a bunch of his new creations. The creations were covered of course, to add to the excitement.

"I think they might want to hear from the artist himself." Gobber said proudly.

The teens could hardly excitement as Gobber carried on. "I've made a lot of saddles in my day. Horse, Donkey and now, Dragon. But these saddles are special. They're like my children, that is if you strapped your child to a flaming reptile and rode it. So without further ado—"

With a grand flourish, Gobber uncovered his latest achievement-the dragon saddles.

"Whoa!" "Wow!" Tuufnut, Ruffnut, Fishlegs, Snotlout and Astrid said in awe.

Hiccup and Zenna, on the other hand, could only stare. The saddles looked like saddles, alright. But…Gobber _did _make a few…_adjustments_.

"They look like saddles…sort of." Zenna said uncertainly. Stryka looked at the saddles and whined. She was so glad she already had a saddle because honestly, Gobber's saddles did _not _look very inviting.

Hiccup walked over to Gobber, a little unsure on what to say. "Wow Gobber. This, this is not certainly what I imagined." He said. "How could it be? I'm _Gobber_! Nobody knows what it's like to live in here." Gobber said, tapping his helmet with his hooked hand for emphasis.

Hiccup and Zenna then proceeded to examine the saddles. "This better not be a…" Zenna eyed one saddle with a bellow attached to it. "Is-Is that…?" Hiccup stuttered nervously as Gobber proceeded to demonstrate.

"Yup! Flamethrower." Saying this, Gobber pumped the bellow and a small plume of flame shot out of it.

"Didn't see that one coming, did 'ya?" Gobber chuckled. "No, I did not." Zenna replied, blinking in surprise. "Uh no, not for dragons. They come with one built in, actually." Hiccup pointed out.

"I know, but can 'ya ever really have too much fire power?" Gobber asked the two. "Sometimes, _yes_." Zenna answered, looking worriedly at Hiccup.

One pair of saddles with built in catapults caught Ruffnut and Tuffnut's attention. Strapping the saddles onto Barf and Belch's necks, the Twins loaded a round each and fired. The combination of the area of the catapults' attachments right behind the Hideous Zippleback's head and the angle of trajectory proved to be painful for Barf and Belch both got hit on their heads and fell to the floor with their Riders.

"Ow!" Ruffnut complained, not exactly enjoying the pain she and her brother were experiencing right now.

"Uhh, catapults? For the Twins? Not such a good idea." Hiccup deadpanned. "Letting the Twins use catapults is _never _a good idea." Zenna added.

"You can do it girl!" Fishlegs' voice caught both Riders' attention. Donning a saddle decorated with heavy iron maces and spikes, Meatlug was trying her best to stay aloft with Fishlegs on her back.

"Think light!" the husky blond Viking encouraged his Gronckle who, after a few seconds of hovering just a few inches, fell down in exhaustion.

"Oh come on! You can't tell me my saddle is heavier than Fishlegs!" Gobber huffed. "My mom says I'm just husky." Fishlegs said in defense. "She's right about that, Legs. Maybe the maces are a bit too much…" Zenna agreed with him.

Meanwhile, Snotlout was trying to get Hookfang to wear a saddle. But no matter what he did, the male Monstrous Nightmare always flamed up and roared at him.

"Come on Hookfang, what's wrong with you?" Snotlout said in annoyance and tried again only to get the same results.

"That's it, someone's trading with me." Snotlout complained, crossing his arms. "Yeah, sure. I'll trade my perfect dragon for an angry oven." Tuffnut said sarcastically as he sat on Belch.

Astrid had placed a regular looking saddle on Stormfly's back and was testing it out. "This saddle's actually pretty good." She remarked.

"Wait 'til you try the horn." Gobber told her.

_Horn?_

Hiccup and Zenna could only watch (_and for precautionary measures, cover their ears_) as Astrid blew on the small horn attached to the front of the saddle. The horn suddenly tripled in size _and _volume, startling Astrid's Nadder into shooting out some spikes that impaled Snotlout to the wall!

"Really? Again?" the Jorgenson boy asked in disbelief.

"This has not gone well…" Zenna sighed, putting a hand to her forehead.

Hiccup turned to his old mentor. "So anyway I-I think we're really gonna need to make a few—" he stuttered.

"Changes! I'm way ahead of you! I've got so many ideas!" Gobber interrupted. "I bet you have…" Zenna mumbled nervously.

Gobber nodded and looked at the two and said to them, "It's getting' crowded up here." Tapping on his helmet again.

Hiccup and Zenna could only hope that things couldn't possibly get any worse…

After a day of insane dragon training with Gobber, the two best friends were busy cleaning up the Academy while Toothless and Stryka took a breather. Finishing sweeping one spot, Hiccup and Zenna motioned for their Night Furies to move a bit. Toothless and Stryka obediently complied, just as Stoick, Henna and Edgar came in.

"My Odin! This place looked better when we were killing dragons here!" Stoick said, surveying the damage. "Did Ragnarok come here early?" Edgar asked.

"Yeah, we sort of got '_Gobbered_'." Hiccup shrugged.

"It _does _look like the ring has seen better days." Zenna shrugged as well."Gobber's just trying his best, love. You can't blame him for that." Henna told her daughter.

"Well you know Gobber. He means well, he just doesn't always _do _well." Stoick admitted. "True that, Stoick." Edgar sighed. "The man does his best. Sometimes, his best isn't exactly the best." Henna said in agreement.

Stoick looked at his son and asked him, "So what are you going to do about him?" Hiccup resumed sweeping as he replied, "I'm going to clean up his messes and redo his work."

"And hopefully, it'll only be done once." Zenna said. Henna then noticed that the sun was setting and turned to her. "Zenna love, I think it's best we go home and have dinner now." She suggested.

"I'll join you and Dad later, Mom." Zenna replied, helping Hiccup with cleaning up. "Alright then, Zen. Don't stay out too late now." Edgar then left with his wife.

"I'm gonna work over there." Zenna told Hiccup and pointed to a corner that hadn't been cleaned yet. Hiccup nodded and sighed.

Sensing his son's predicament, Stoick decided to say, "Look. Gobber's like family." Hiccup turned to his father. "Yeah, I know he is. That's why I can't say anything to him." He said.

"No son, that's why you _have _to. It's not fair to you and it's not fair to Gobber." Stoick said reasonably, putting a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Why do _I _have to say something to him? _You _didn't! You just passed him off to me!" Hiccup shrugged his father's hand off angrily.

"That's what the Chief does: he delegates." Stoick told him. Hiccup still looked pretty uncertain and could only look at his father, a little unsure.

"Look, I gave you and Zenna this Academy because it's the best thing for Berk. Now _you two _have to do what's best for the Academy." Stoick advised him, nodding to Zenna who had just finished cleaning up.

The three of them along with Toothless and Stryka began to leave the Academy. Passing by Snotlout, who was still impaled to the wall and already asleep, Stoick looked at the two Dragon Trainers.

"What about him?" he asked. "He's on timeout via Nadder impalement, sir." Zenna informed him. "Leave him. He's going for a record." Hiccup told his father.

"Enough said." Stoick decided to let Snotlout stay in the Academy for now, upon his son and his friend's orders. The Jorgenson boy's accumulated a pretty lengthy record even _before _the Dragon Academy came to be anyway.

That evening after they both had dinner, Hiccup and Zenna went with Toothless and Stryka over to the forge where Gobber was still working.

"You gotta do what you gotta do, Hicc. It's the only way." Zenna told her friend. "I just hope he doesn't take it too hard, Zen." Hiccup sighed. "Don't worry. In case he does, I've got this with me." Zenna held up Elias' shield with a smile.

Hiccup walked over to the forge with Toothless. The male Night Fury crooned and looked at Hiccup curiously. "Hey you never know, bud. Maybe Gobber finally looked at my plans and is actually making the saddles better." Hiccup said hopefully.

A loud explosion then sounded from the forge, making Stryka and Zenna flinch.

"Or not." Hiccup deadpanned. "I hope he's okay…" Zenna said, a little worried.

Deciding to go investigate, both of them went inside the forge.

"Gobber?" Hiccup and Zenna both called out. Suddenly Gobber whirled around-with a crossbow!

"_Don't shoot!_" the two best friends yelped, putting their hands up in the air. "I would _never _shoot you two, Hiccup and Zenna. Unless I absolutely had to." Gobber chuckled.

"Well, that makes me feel so much better, Gob." Zenna said sarcastically, holding her shield close to her chest warily.

"Hehe, yeah…Still, if you could _please put the crossbow down_ I know Zenna and I'd feel better." Hiccup said, trying to avoid getting aimed at.

Luckily Gobber took the hint and put the dangerous weapon down and went back to work. "You know, about the weapons, maybe the catapults were a bit much for some of the dragons yesterday." He said thoughtfully.

"A _bit?_ More like _a lot._" Zenna whispered to Hiccup who just put a finger to his lips so Gobber wouldn't hear.

"So I've gone a different way. I've gotten rid of the two big ones." Gobber said as he rummaged around his workspace.

"What a relief…" Zenna breathed out. "Gobber, that's great!" Hiccup said, glad that his mentor was making better progress.

"And replaced them with _six little ones!_" Gobber said, showing a sample mini catapult to the two.

"Yeah…not the kind of progress we were hoping for." Zenna said, deflating a bit.

Hiccup decided to start talking. "Yeah, um, Gobber we need to talk. Uh, I think it might be time for you to take a little break." He said carefully.

"In case you hadn't noticed, the only time a Viking takes a break is to die." Gobber informed him.

"Maybe '_break_' is the wrong word. What I mean is I'm not sure things are working out." Hiccup continued. Gobber had paused from hammering a slab of metal to listen before resuming and said, "Well, get back to me when you're sure."

Hiccup looked at Zenna for help. The one-eyed girl sighed and mouthed to him, '_You gotta do what you gotta do, Hicc. Do it._'

"Okay, I'm sure." Hiccup said before sighing and decided to be blunt.

"Gobber, I'm gonna need to take you off the saddle project."

At those words, Gobber put down his hammer and turned to face his apprentice.

"Are you gettin' rid of me, Hiccup? Now I see why you had me put down the crossbow." He said, looking hurt.

"We don't mean it that way, Gobber." Zenna said in an attempt to comfort him, failing miserably.

"It's just the saddles! We'll find something else for you." Hiccup said desperately.

"I don't need your pity. I've lost an arm and a leg. I think I'll survive losing a job." Gobber waved them off. Sighing, Hiccup and Zenna left the forge feeling even worse.

"That was painful." Zenna heaved a sigh. Hiccup turned to his and Zenna's dragons and sighed. "Well that was awful. I don't know what could be worse than that." He said dejectedly.

That's when a large fireball appeared in the sky not too far from where the four of them were standing, startling them.

"Odin, _why?_" Zenna looked up to the heavens, exasperated.

"Okay, it looks like we're about to find out." Hiccup remarked fearfully and then spotted Snotlout sprinting towards him and Zenna.

Stopping in front of his cousin and his friend, Snotlout took a minute to get his breathing a bit steady.

"I never…thought I'd say this, but Hiccup, Zenna…" Snotlout wheezed out and clutched Hiccup's shoulders and turned his head to the area of the chaos.

"_Help!_" Snotlout cried out. The two teens looked at each other and their dragons before following Snotlout to the village plaza.

"Everybody back away! The dragon's out of control! It's not safe here!" Stoick yelled to the people as Hookfang rampaged around the plaza. People quickly gathered what they could gather and fled.

"What the hell's going on with your Monstrous Nightmare?!" Zenna yelled as they ran past the fleeing crowd of Vikings. "I don't know what happened! I was just rubbing his head. He usually loves that! But this time he went crazy. My dragon hates me." Snotlout whimpered the last sentence as they arrived at the plaza.

Hookfang was furiously spouting flames and, strangely enough, rubbing one side of his head against the ground. It was almost as if he was in pain. And that made Hiccup and Zenna all the more concerned.

"They _do _say that a pet starts to take on the characteristics of its owner." Fishlegs said, looking at Snotlout, and added, "I think that's what's happening here."

"Hey!" Snotlout shouted, feeling offended and punched Fishlegs in the gut. The husky Ingerman boy winced and wheezed out, "Yep, I rest my case."

Hiccup managed to get a bit closer to Hookfang and looked over his shoulder at Snotlout. "When was the last time he ate?" he questioned. "Not for days." Snotlout shrugged. "Even when you tried to get him to eat?" Zenna also asked to which Snotlout nodded.

Hiccup then took out a fish and held it out to Hookfang. "You hungry, boy?" he asked. Hookfang cautiously took the fish. For a minute, it seemed to work.

But then suddenly, Hookfang roared in pain and spat out the fish, which landed in Stoick's beard.

"Oh, sorry Dad." Hiccup said apologetically. Stoick sighed and struggled to think. "We've got to bring this dragon under control." He muttered.

"Don't worry. Zenna and I can do this." Hiccup reassured him. "Just give us some space." Zenna cautioned the others.

Everyone backed away as the two Dragon Trainers slowly approached Hookfang. "It's okay, Hookfang. We're here to help you." Zenna murmured softly as she gently placed her hand on the Monstrous Nightmare's snout.

Hookfang slowly began to calm down, much to their relief. "There you go. It's gonna be okay." Hiccup said soothingly as he gently rubbed Hookfang's snout.

But when he moved his hand to one side of Hookfang's face under his chin, the Monstrous Nightmare once again reared up and prepared to attack!

"Hiccup, Zenna run!" Astrid yelled. "Way ahead of you!" Hiccup hollered as he and Zenna scrambled. "You don't need to tell us that twice!" Zenna yelped as she narrowly dodged the flames.

Enraged at Hookfang attacking their Riders, Toothless and Stryka quickly rushed to block the two from Hookfang and lunged at him. Hookfang managed to throw them off but Toothless and Stryka weren't gonna take this lying down and roared.

"Toothless! Stop!" "Stand down, Stryka!" Hiccup and Zenna quickly pacified the two Night Furies as Stoick went over to them.

"I've seen enough Hiccup and Zenna. I'm sorry. We tried it your way." With those words, Stoick headed straight for the forge.

"What's he gonna do?" Zenna asked fearfully. "What needs to be done, Zenna." Edgar said gravely. Zenna looked at her father and mother and her eye widened in realization. "No…" she whispered, horrified. "Zen, sometimes you have to take drastic measures to protect everyone. This is one of those times." Henna told her seriously.

While the others were still in the plaza, Stoick quickly went inside the forge in order to find the man they now needed for the job.

"Gobber! We need you." Stoick shouted upon seeing his old friend slumped on his workbench. "No you don't. Nobody needs me." Gobber sniffled as he got up and walked to his collection of weapons.

"Nobody needs any of us. Not even you, Bertha." Gobber affectionately patted his catapult. Stoick looked closely at Gobber's face and asked, "Are you crying?" upon seeing the tears welling up in his friend's eyes.

"Course not. Just chopping onions." Gobber said, using the lamest excuse he could think of. "There _are _no onions." Stoick pointed out.

"Not anymore. Look what I used to chop them with." Gobber then held up his left arm that now had a small axe prosthetic attached. Deciding to cut to the chase, Stoick looked at the old blacksmith seriously.

"There's a dragon in the plaza that's out of control." The Chief reported. "Then why don't you call Hiccup and Zenna?" Gobber said gloomily. Stoick placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "No Gobber, we need _you._" He said seriously, hoping his friend still had some fight left in him.

Back at the plaza, the seven Viking teens were at their wits' end. "What do we do now? Going near Hookfang's too risky so now _what?!_" Zenna said, holding the sides of her head in frustration.

"Come on guys! Hurry up! Think! What haven't we tried?" Hiccup asked his friends frantically. That's when he saw Snotlout point at something behind him.

"Snotlout, you have an idea?" Hiccup asked. Instead, Snotlout looked terrified and managed to say, "Gobber!"

Turning around, Hiccup and Zenna saw Gobber with Stoick. What really made them worried was the amount of weapons Gobber had with him.

"Oh no…" Zenna instantly paled.

"Stand back. I came here to do what I do best." Gobber warned everyone as he got ready.

"He's gonna kill my dragon…" Snotlout mumbled in horror. "No, he's not." Hiccup reassured him.

Tuffnut then piped up, "Uh, yeah he is." Ruffnut joined in with, "You don't use that stuff to butter toast." Tuffnut nodded in agreement before adding, "Well, I mean, _we _would, but you don't."

"This isn't really helping, you two." Zenna rolled her eye at them both.

"Dad, you can't be serious? Hookfang is Snotlout's dragon." Hiccup said to his father in disbelief. "I'm sorry Hiccup, but sometimes you have to fall back on the old ways." Gobber said gravely.

"But the old ways aren't good ways!" Zenna said in protest. "He has to do what needs to be done, sweetheart." Henna reasoned with her. "It's for the best." Edgar agreed.

"But he's a good dragon." Hiccup said to his father. "He's a good dragon." Snotlout repeated in distress.

"There's probably just something wrong with him." Hiccup reasoned. "There's _definitely _something wrong with him!" Snotlout cried, close to bawling his eyes out.

"We have to try to help him. We can't just get rid of him because he's having a bad day." Hiccup told his father pleadingly. "A bad day for a dragon can be a disaster for us. That's not a risk I am willing to take." Stoick replied and looked at the old blacksmith.

"Gobber." At Stoick's command, the two-limbed Viking readied a bola. Hookfang then ran out of shots, small spurts of fire sputtering out of his mouth.

"Ha! You're all out of fire!" Gobber then launched his bola, snaring Hookfang's wings.

"I can't let you do this." Hiccup suddenly grabbed onto Gobber to stop him. "And neither can I." Zenna added, latching onto Gobber as well.

"There's no choice. It has to be done." Gobber told them just as Hookfang managed to burn the ropes binding his wings with his body temperature and roared right in the trio's faces.

That's when they finally saw the cause of the problem.

"I knew it!" Zenna exclaimed, proving her hypothesis to be true after all.

"Do you see that?" Gobber asked Hiccup in shock. "I do." Hiccup answered, shocked as well.

"Time to put this beast out of its misery." Gobber said going over to the rampaging Monstrous Nightmare.

"Hiccup, Zenna! What're you two doing?" Astrid asked the two upon seeing how they let Gobber go. Hiccup looked at her in assurance to let her know that he and Zenna knew what they're doing.

"Don't worry, Snotlout. He's got this." Zenna reassured the panicking burly Viking boy.

Gobber then jumped onto Hookfang's head. The Monstrous Nightmare struggled violently until Gobber finally got a hold of the problem and yanked. Leaping off of Hookfang, Gobber breathed a sigh of relief as the Monstrous Nightmare calmed down, along with Hiccup and Zenna.

"Ah! You didn't kill him!" Snotlout said happily. Gobber then turned around, holding a rotted dragon fang. "For a toothache? What kind of lunatic are you?" he scolded the boy.

"A _toothache?_" Henna asked in disbelief. "_That _was the cause of all this madness?" Edgar was also shocked. "I _knew _that something was wrong with him on the inside!" Zenna said giddily, glad that she was right all along.

Hookfang then spotted his Rider and went over to him, scooping him up with his head. Snotlout giggled, overjoyed that his dragon was finally okay. Then he noticed all the others looking at him.

Realizing that he was showing his soft side, Snotlout whispered to Hookfang, "Stop it. Stop it." And got off of him.

"Ugh, I don't know where that came from. Can you train that out of him or…?" he said roughly. "Well you can stop it from reoccurring again by paying attention to his oral hygiene, Snotlout." Zenna offered helpfully before muttering under her breath, "And while you're at it, pay attention to _yours _too…"

Hiccup approached Gobber and smiled. "Thank you, Gobber. A bad tooth; I can't believe I didn't think of that." He said gratefully. "That's because you're not Gobber! I've forgotten more about dragons than most men will ever know." Gobber chuckled and turned to his weapons.

"Well, better go put the girls away." He said and began to leave. "I think I have an idea on how Gobber can put those things of his to good use." Zenna told Hiccup and whispered her idea in her friend's ear.

Hiccup brightened up at Zenna's suggestion and called after his old mentor, "Gobber! Not so fast!"

Gobber then turned around and smiled, already knowing what idea his apprentice had in mind.

'_When the world around you changes, the good men find a way to change with it. And Gobber is one of these good men…_

_In fact, he's one of the best._'

We now see Gobber, the official Dragon Dentist of Berk, happily working on a Zippleback's chompers.

"I've got my axe and I've got my mace, and I love my wife with the ugly face! I'm a Viking through and throouugghh!" he sang, happy to finally have a place in this new world where Dragons and Vikings are at peace.


	4. Animal House

**Note: I do NOT own HTTYD**

**Animal House**

'_Here on Berk we made peace with the dragons. We're finally living and working together._'

On Berk, Vikings have accepted the dragons and vice versa. Villagers peacefully went about their daily business as dragons flew overhead.

'_And it only took us three hundred years._'

But suddenly the peace is shattered when a Monstrous Nightmare and Deadly Nadder accidentally flew into each other and got into a brawl.

'_There's one slight problem…_'

The two dragons' brawl soon brought them to one of the many sheep grazing fields in the island's foothills.

'…_We forgot to tell the animals._'

Startled by the sudden intrusion, the sheep immediately scattered in a panic. Not noticing the animals' distress, the Monstrous Nightmare and Deadly Nadder continued to fight.

"Oh, not again. You go on now…you get, get, _shoo!_ Now you know you're not supposed to be in here." Mulch scolded the dragons, shooing them away with his friend Bucket helping him.

Once the dragons were gone, Mulch turned to the farm animals. "Alright everybody, time to earn your keep." He announced as he approached the yaks.

Bucket was in charge of collecting the eggs. As he checked under one chicken in the henhouse, the bucket-wearing Viking saw that there weren't any eggs. Confused, Bucket turned to Mulch and meekly asked, "It's chickens who lay eggs, right?"

Mulch looked at him and sighed at his friend's forgetfulness. "Do we really need to go over this again?" he asked Bucket, raising an eyebrow.

"No…" Bucket answered dubiously, before looking under a sheep for eggs. Sighing, Mulch remarked, "Apparently we do."

Guiding Bucket, Mulch began to give his friend a farming refresher lesson.

"Well, pay attention Bucket." He said seriously before pointing to all the different animals on the farm.

"Wool." He pointed to the sheep.

"Eggs." He gestured to the chickens.

"Milk." He pointed to the yaks last before asking Bucket, "Was that so hard now, see?"

Bucket still had a confused look on his face so Mulch decided to do a demonstration. "Ugh. Observe." Mulch said as he went over to a yak.

"Just grab the udder, like so, and pull." Mulch said as he grabbed the yak's udder and pulled. When the milk didn't come gushing out, Mulch tried again. "Uh…pull." At this second try, the yak began to moo dolefully.

"Pull!" Mulch yanked harder this time and finally, the yak got irritated and kicked the unfortunate farmer away.

Mulch landed on the ground in a heap. Straightening up, Mulch looked at Bucket in concern. "Uh oh. I think we're empty." Mulch said, checking the empty milk bucket and added, "That's not good."

While Bucket and Mulch were having this dilemma, Hiccup, Zenna and Astrid were on one of the mountains surrounding Berk trying a new sport with their dragons Toothless, Stryka and Stormfly.

This new sport that involved riding their dragons down the snow covered mountain without flying was called Dragon Boarding, a new pastime that the three teenagers were currently enjoying.

"Yaaahooo!" "Yo-di-le-hi-hoo!" "Hahaha!" Hiccup, Zenna and Astrid were having a blast as they boarded down the mountain. And Toothless, Stryka and Stormfly were having the time of their lives as well. Wait till they tell the other dragons about this awesome activity!

Astrid was now in the lead with Hiccup and Zenna right on her and Stormfly's tail. Not wanting to be overtaken by the two Night Fury Riders, Astrid silently commanded Stormfly to launch her tail spikes.

"Nadder spikes!" Zenna alerted Hiccup and Toothless. "Whoa!" Hiccup quickly swerved Toothless out of the way and Zenna did the same thing with Stryka, both Night Furies narrowly avoiding the spikes.

"Hey, Astrid!" Hiccup complained. "Oops, did I do that?" Astrid asked innocently, looking over her shoulder at the two.

"Cheater!" Zenna said accusingly with a smirk while Hiccup just smiled and got an idea.

Hiccup got Toothless close enough to Stormfly and the male Night Fury lifted a wing to block Stormfly's view. Stryka rumbled in amusement while Zenna just rolled her eye.

"Hey! Not fair!" Astrid protested, trying to see only to spot her and her dragon headed straight for a pine tree branch covered with snow!

"Ah!" Astrid yelped as her face was covered with snow. "That's what you call karma!" Zenna called back from behind the two.

"Oh, so it's gonna be like that, huh?!" Astrid challenged Hiccup. "I have no idea what you're talking about." The auburn headed and one-legged boy said innocently while Toothless chuckled the only way a dragon could.

Suddenly Stormfly fired out a blast of flame and destroyed a snowdrift, the blast startling Toothless and sending him and Hiccup into a spin!

"Whoa! Hey!" Hiccup hollered as they struggled and finally regained control. "It was _her _idea. But I approve…haha!" Astrid laughed as they continued to race.

Zenna was behind the couple, she and Stryka thoroughly enjoying the spectacle. And then Stryka's highly sensitive ears picked up a low rumble coming from behind and alerted Zenna with a warning bark. Turning around, Zenna noticed that the loud sound from the blast and sheer force had caused the snow from above the mountain to crumble and cascade down causing an…

'_AVALANCHE!_' Zenna thought in alarm.

"Hiccup! Astrid!" Zenna shouted frantically but she and Stryka weren't near enough for her voice to carry through. Luckily, Hiccup also heard the avalanche and turned around.

"Uh oh…" he mumbled. "We gotta get out of here!" Zenna yelled once she and Stryka were right beside him and Toothless.

Hiccup quickly clicked on the stirrup with his metal foot. But Toothless didn't lift off the ground! Hiccup tried again only to get the same results.

"Hiccup, look!" Zenna pointed to Toothless' prosthetic red tail fin, which was covered in frost!

"His tail's frozen!" Hiccup said in alarm. "Yeah, I noticed!" Zenna sighed exasperatedly as she and Stryka lifted off the ground and attempted to grab Toothless and Hiccup off the ground but failing.

"Astrid!" Hiccup yelled to the blonde shield maiden ahead of him.

Astrid looked back to see Hiccup, Toothless, Zenna and Stryka with a massive avalanche right behind them! Quickly, Astrid got Stormfly to lift off and take to the skies. Zenna and Stryka did the same thing while Hiccup and Toothless tried again only to fall back on the ground again.

"Hiccup!" Astrid cried out, swooping down. Hiccup was now crawling across Toothless' back, trying to pry the gears free from the ice while Toothless hastened his descent.

"Ah, hold on!" Astrid yelled to him. "We're gonna help!" Zenna called out, both of them having their dragons circle around the two protectively.

"No! Go back!" Hiccup told them, now noticing that he and Toothless were approaching a gorge! "No way, Hicc! We stick together no matter what!" Zenna refused as she and Astrid both held onto Hiccup's outstretched hand.

They tried to lift both boys off the ground but were a second too late. The three Viking teens and their dragons were then swept into the gorge by the avalanche! Hiccup, Astrid and Zenna all screamed but their screams were drowned out by the snow.

When Hiccup managed to recover from his fall, all he could think was where Astrid, Zenna and their dragons could be as well as how cold he was.

"Astrid?" he called out through chattering teeth. A girl's voice came out of the dark. "Over here…Hiccup, I'm freezing." Astrid's voice answered back, also shaky due to the cold.

"I'm here!" Hiccup scooted over to the direction of Astrid's voice and then remembered Zenna.

"Zen, are you there?" Hiccup called out worriedly. "I'm okay, Hiccup…I'm okay." Another girl's voice called back from right in front of him.

Relieved, Hiccup then wondered out loud, "Where are the dragons?"

To answer his question, a plasma blast suddenly shot upward and briefly illuminated the darkness.

"Toothless?" Hiccup caught a glimpse of a Night Fury.

Another blast of flame shot up again, this time coming from a Deadly Nadder.

"Stormfly?" Astrid asked, seeing her Deadly Nadder.

One more plasma blast, this time coming from a one-eyed female Night Fury's mouth, came up.

"Stryka?" Zenna breathed out as the three dragons fired another round of flame, breaking the barrier of ice above them and revealing the sky high above them.

"Whoa…" Hiccup said in awe.

"Yeah…" Astrid said in relief.

That's when Zenna noticed that while Stryka had protectively wrapped her wings around her to keep her warm, Hiccup and Astrid were pressed close to each other with their arms wrapped around each other. Deciding to stay quiet, Zenna smiled to herself while Stryka crooned and nuzzled her warm scales against her neck.

"I see daylight!" Hiccup shouted, glad to see the sunlight shining down on them. "We're gonna get out of here!" Astrid said in relief.

The two of them looked up and saw that Toothless and Stormfly were looming above them, their wings outstretched to block out the snow and smiling warmly at them.

"Look what they did…" Hiccup said in amazement. "They saved our lives…" Astrid agreed with him. "And it looks like you two are quite close now, huh?" Zenna quipped, breaking her silence and alerting the two lovebirds that they were essentially _cuddling_.

Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other, blushed, let go of each other and scooted away from each other.

"Uh, um…that was…so…So, we're good now?" Hiccup stuttered, his cheeks turning crimson. "G-good as new…" Astrid said awkwardly before administering a punch to Hiccup's shoulder to cover up the awkwardness.

"Ow!" Hiccup winced while Zenna laughed. "You two are adorable." She giggled before getting out of Stryka's protective wings and stood up.

"Now, let's get out of here before the village sends a search party out." She proclaimed. Hiccup and Astrid nodded meekly, still feeling flustered and proceeded to get themselves and their dragons out of the gorge.

Meanwhile back at Bucket and Mulch's farm, Stoick, Gobber and Edgar and Henna Fiersome were trying to help the two farmers with their animals.

"No chickens laying eggs…" Henna muttered as she checked every chicken.

"The sheep are too scared to even stay still to be sheared…" Edgar said as he tried to trim one sheep and it just ran away from him.

"Ah, uh…there it is, mm hmm! Just what I thought." Gobber mused as he finished examining a yak and stood up.

"She's not giving milk…none of them are." He reported to Stoick. "We know that, Gobber. We want to know _why_." Stoick said gruffly.

"This reminds me of the time I moved my mother in with my goat. She was mean, ornery, ate everything in sight. The goat was so scared of her, she couldn't give milk." Gobber recalled.

Henna and Edgar looked at each other in surprise. And here they thought it was the _goat _that was mean, ornery and ate everything in sight!

Stoick raised an eyebrow. "So, what are you saying, Gobber?" he asked curiously. "Mothers and goats don't mix. Same with farm animals and dragons. We stopped fighting dragons, so now they're around all the time. The animals are spooked." Gobber explained.

As if on cue, a dragon swooped by and frightened a trio of sheep. The sheep, due to their intense fright, merely dropped to the ground like flies.

"Like I said, _spooked_." Gobber repeated for emphasis. Edgar and Henna then went over to the sheep to put them upright once more.

Suddenly they heard Bucket moaning. The adults turned to the bucket-wearing Viking and noticed that he was clutching his bucket covered head in pain.

"Uh oh. Your bucket's not tightening up on 'ya, is it?" Mulch asked in concern. "No, I'm just…" Bucket managed to reply before his bucket tightened up on his head even more!

"_Fiiiiiiine!_" Bucket screamed in pain, getting on his knees.

"Well whenever his bucket gets tight, it means a storm is coming." Mulch told Stoick, Gobber and the two Fiersomes.

"It does?" Edgar and Henna asked at the same time in surprise. Back on their old home in the South, their people had other methods of predicting the weather-and none of them involved people wearing buckets.

"No storm, everything's fine." Bucket said hastily. "Bucket…" Mulch chided him.

"I don't want there to be a storm! If lightning strikes me bucket, I could end up less intelligent." Bucket said fearfully before wailing in pain as his bucket tightened up again.

"Oh, ho, ho! That's one tight bucket. And the tighter the bucket, the bigger the storm." Mulch remarked.

"Poor Bucket…" Henna said worriedly. "Maybe we can try to loosen up that old bucket of yours…" Edgar offered helpfully only to get a pained wail from Bucket who swatted Edgar's hands away from his bucket.

"But that's crazy. Storm's don't hit this early in the season." Stoick said, confused. "And besides, who ever heard of prediciting the weather with a _bucket_? That's what chicken bones and goose feet are for." Gobber added, dubious of Mulch's claim.

"If you recall, that bucket of his predicted the blizzard of Olaf!" Mulch reminded the two-limbed blacksmith. "That was a bad one! It took us a week just to dig Mildew out." Bucket whimpered in agreement.

"And the rest of our lives to wonder why we bothered." Mulch added. "The world would've been more peaceful if you hadn't dug the old coot out…" Edgar said wistfully, earning him a hard glare from his wife.

"Trust the bucket, Stoick." Mulch told the Chief who remained steadfast. "You trust the bucket. I want a second opinion." Stoick said stubbornly before leaving with Gobber and the Fiersomes.

High up on the highest point in the village stood Gothi's house. Not many people knew how in Valhalla was the Elder able to get down from there to attend village celebrations and the like. And it was highly likely that they never will. Right now, Gothi stood in front of the four adults seeking her wisdom.

"Gothi, I've come for your counsel. Is there going to be a storm?" Stoick asked the little old lady.

As she was a non-speaker, Gothi used her staff to draw symbols in the small bit of dirt she had on her porch.

"I'll never know why she never speaks, love." Henna murmured curiously. "We probably never will, dear." Edgar whispered to her.

"What's she saying, Gobber?" Stoick asked. The blacksmith carefully looked at the runes and said, "She says: '_What do you think?_' Huh?"

Stoick, Gobber, Edgar and Henna looked at each other and back at Gothi in confusion. Sighing, Gothi pointed with her staff to behind them. Looking at Gothi's house, the four adults saw that there were sandbags lining the house and all the windows and doors were bolted shut.

"How could we have missed that?" Edgar wondered out loud. "You're positive, Gothi?" Henna asked the Elder who nodded.

"How can you be so sure? Was it the chicken bones? Or the goose feet?" Stoick asked. Gothi proceeded to draw more runes in the dirt. Gobber translated and his eyebrows went up in surprise.

"She says she could hear Bucket screaming from way up here." He told Stoick, Edgar and Henna. Well, _that _made them all think twice about Bucket's bucket.

Meanwhile on one of the watchtowers on the island, Hiccup, Astrid and Zenna along with their dragons as well as the rest of the members of the Berk Dragon Academy.

"…And then the dragons used their wings to block out the snow." Hiccup finished the recounting of the avalanche incident with enthusiasm. "Plus, they used their flames to melt the snow blocking our view so we could get out of the gorge." Zenna added.

"I've never heard of anything like that. Not even in the Book of Dragons." Fishlegs said in awe. "I know! It was incredible. It was if their protective instincts just kicked in!" Astrid agreed with him.

Hiccup looked up at Toothless, Stormfly and Stryka with awe. "Who'd believe it? The dragons we fought for years came to our rescue." He said. "Yeah, if it weren't for them, we would've frozen to death." Astrid chimed in.

"You know what? You could've used your own bodies to keep each other warm." Fishlegs suggested innocently.

That's when Hiccup and Astrid both noticed that they were, once again, sitting very close to each other. Zenna silently laughed as both teens scooched away from each other by a few inches.

"Um…" Astrid began to say. "Who would do that?" Hiccup asked awkwardly. "That's crazy…" Astrid managed to say at last.

"It didn't look so crazy earlier when…" Zenna began to say before both Hiccup and Astrid quickly said, "_Shut up!_"

"Okay, okay…" Zenna put her hands up in defense, a mischievous smirk on her face.

"Hey, Astrid. If you're still cold…" Snotlout opened his arms and puckered up. In response to that, Astrid gave the catapult she was leaning against on a hard punch which caused the snow that had accumulated to come crashing down onto the poor boy's head.

"Hey!" Snotlout cried out, his voice muffled by the snow. When he got out of it, he then set his sights on Zenna. "Don't even think about it, Snot." The one-eyed girl threatened, holding one of her battle sticks in her hand.

That's when the Twins arrived with news.

"Hey, Hiccup! Your father's looking for you." Tuffnut told the one-legged boy. "He looked angry." Ruffnut added.

"He's looked angry since the day I was born…But I'm sure there's no connection." Hiccup said as he got on Toothless. "I sure hope not." Zenna said, getting on Stryka as well and the four friends flew off to the Haddock house.

At Hiccup's house, Stoick informed the two Dragon Trainers of the oncoming dilemma. "With a bad storm coming we could be locked in. We might not be able to hunt or fish for months!" the Chief said seriously.

"That's weird. The weather's been pretty fine these past couple of weeks." Zenna said, perplexed. "But it's way too early for a storm. We're in the middle of winter! _Devastating _Winter isn't due for another month!" Hiccup said, perplexed as well.

"Not according to Gothi." Stoick told them both. "Well, what are Zenna and I supposed to do? We can't control the weather!" Hiccup said in defense.

"No…but the both of you can control dragons. If they don't stop scaring the animals, we won't have any provisions to live on." Stoick said seriously.

"We'd have _some _provisions left if all of you went on a diet…" Zenna mumbled, making her parents look at her disapprovingly while Hiccup covered his mouth to block out a laugh.

Just then, Mulch and Bucket come in with an empty milk bucket. "Ah! Any luck?" Stoick inquired hopefully. Mulch handed him the bucket, frowning. "Not a drop. And this is after yankin' on that poor yak for three hours." Mulch said miserably.

"The poor yak." Zenna said pitifully.

"But it's not like the dragons are trying to be scary. I mean, they don't even eat farm animals. They eat fish!" Hiccup said, defending the dragons. "A _lot _of fish." Zenna added.

"True…but they're huge, they breathe fire, and now that we've made peace with them, they're everywhere. The animals are terrified of them." Gobber pointed out.

"That's why we need you two and all your friends to help." Edgar told his daughter and her friend. "And it needs to be done before the storm hits the island." Henna said in agreement.

"Here's where you two jump in and say, '_We'll fix this._'" Stoick looked at the two Viking teens expectantly. "Okay…But how long do Zenna and I have before the storm hits?" Hiccup inquired.

"About a week." Mulch told him and Zenna. "That's enough time." Zenna remarked. "No problem. More than enough—" Hiccup began to agree with her when Bucket howled in pain again and clutched his bucket.

"Correction: three days, six hours." Mulch said worriedly. "How can a bucket be so freakishly accurate?" Zenna wondered out loud, slightly creeped out. "Uh, okay…less time…might be more of a problem?" Hiccup said uncertainly.

"Let's get to work then." Zenna shrugged before she and Hiccup left to round up the animals and some of the dragons. And already, the storm was slowly reaching Berk…

After rounding up the chickens, sheep and yaks as well as the Monstrous Nightmare and Deadly Nadder from earlier at the arena, the Dragon Trainers got to work.

"They wanna be friends, little guy. Come on." Zenna gently coaxed a little sheep over to the Deadly Nadder only to have it hide behind her legs.

"Come on, big boy. You can do it. Come on. You'll really like them if you get to know them." Hiccup grunted as he tried to get a yak to interact with the dragons, the animal struggling against him for all it was worth.

"The dragons look scary but they're just big, scary reptiles." Astrid said helpfully.

"Just like Snotlout." Tuffnut snickered. The Jorgenson boy didn't take this insult very well and lifted the male Thorston twin off the floor. But just as he was about to slug Tuffnut in the face, Snotlout looked carefully and asked, "You're the guy, _right?_"

"No!" Tuffnut said quickly in a poor imitation of his sister Ruffnut's voice.

Hiccup and Zenna once again tried to get the dragons and animals close but failed yet again. "What now?" Zenna sighed.

That's when Fishlegs came up with an idea. "Okay, what if we look at this from an animal's perspective?" he suggested.

Getting down on all fours, Fishlegs crawled over to the dragons. "Oh, hello, Mr. Dragon! I'm just a little sheep here…walking…doing sheep things…Baaa!" Fishlegs bleated out the last part as he got over to the Monstrous Nightmare.

"Baaa! You know he doesn't really seem so big and—" Fishlegs then suddenly screamed when the dragon roared in his face. Quickly, the boy scrambled over to his Gronckle, Meatlug, and hid underneath her.

"Sorry! But I'm siding on the sheep with this one." Fishlegs whimpered. "Well at least we know how the dragons are scaring them…" Zenna shrugged.

"Look, I've learned that once you have a positive experience with something you're afraid of…" Hiccup said and herded some sheep together before continuing with, "…it isn't so scary anymore."

"That's what the two of us learned when we met our dragons." Zenna remarked. Hiccup then got a trio of sheep together.

"Okay, here you go boys…over here. And that's what we'll have to do with these sheep. We gotta prove to them that they have nothing to fear—" Hiccup had just said this when the dragons started quarrelling again.

To make things worse, the Monstrous Nightmare fired a shot and it set a sheep's tail on fire!

"Oh, not again!" Zenna moaned as Astrid caught the fleeing sheep and Hiccup patted out the flames.

"Ooh-aaah-at this rate we'll never get any milk or eggs." Hiccup groaned. "The gods hate us…" Zenna sighed, looking up at the sky and noticing that the clouds were already dark and ominous.

Meanwhile, Stoick, Gobber, Edgar and Henna were checking out the food storage warehouse, which was looking rather inadequate in provisions.

"Just as I feared. We haven't had time to fully stock the food store house. If this storm is as bad as I think it is, we're never going to survive!" Stoick muttered. "Not with this inventory." Gobber agreed with him.

"Well, what can we do now Chief?" Edgar asked. "We're going to need everything we can get from those chickens and yaks." Stoick replied.

"I'm not really comfortable putting my fate in the hands of a brainless bird and a big wooly beast that sleeps in its own dung." Gobber commented.

"Well luckily our fate isn't in their hands. It's in my son's." Stoick reassured him. "Don't forget our daughter. I'm sure she and Hiccup are doing well." Henna added optimistically.

Unfortunately, Zenna's mother couldn't be any more wrong. Back at the Dragon Academy, the animals were running around in frightened circles with Zenna frantically trying to corral them into one group.

"Another way for the animals to overcome their fear is to show them that dragons are afraid of things too." Hiccup told his friends.

"Remember Magnus the Merciless? He was a pretty scary guy." Astrid remarked. Fishlegs shuddered as he recalled the scary Viking that often gave him nightmares.

"I was afraid of him until I learned that _he _was afraid of the dark!" Astrid then quipped.

"So during the day: merciless." Tuffnut said. "And during the night…Tuffnut!" Ruffnut added, smirking before yelping, "Ow!" as her brother punched her.

"Hey! That's a real problem." The male Thorston said defensively. "I'm just saying: Knowing that he was afraid of something made him less scary to me." Astrid decided to add.

"Yes. So let's show the yaks that dragons are afraid of things too." Hiccup agreed with the tough shield maiden. "Namely, the dreaded _eels!_" Zenna proclaimed as Hiccup took out an eel from a basket and shoved it in front of the dragons' faces.

Seeing the dragons roar and rear back in terror at the sight of the slippery creature, the yaks began to think that maybe the beasts weren't so terrifying after all.

"I think it's working!" Astrid said excitedly. "It _is _working!" Zenna said giddily. But then the eel had somehow managed to get on the floor really close to the dragons! That's when the Monstrous Nightmare flicked its tail, scaring the yaks _and _flinging a poor sheep into the wall in the process!

"Or maybe not…" Zenna deadpanned, starting to lose hope. Hiccup moaned and held his head in his hands in frustration.

"Don't worry." Astrid reassured him. "Worried? I-I'm not worried! Do I look worried?" Hiccup stuttered, his face clearly showing the sure signs of anxiety. "You're starting to develop an eye twitch. I'd say you're already beyond worried." Zenna informed him, feeling sorry for her best friend.

Back in the village, the storm was already starting to gain strength. Villagers hurried into the Great Hall, bringing in whatever valuables and supplies they could carry.

"Bring in everything you need! We don't know how long we'll need to be hunkered down!" Stoick yelled to his people. Edgar and Henna were busy escorting the children into the Great Hall when Mulch arrived, carrying poor Bucket in a wheelbarrow.

"How's Bucket doing?" Stoick asked Mulch. "Look at him! He usually loves a wheelbarrow ride." Mulch said worriedly, looking at his friend who was moaning and groaning in pain.

"Mulch, I'll take care of Bucket. You and Gobber go find the kids and bring them here." Stoick told him and nodded to Gobber who, along with Mulch, left to head for the Dragon Academy.

"No! Heel!" Zenna cried out as she chased after the sheep. "Hey! Calm down! Get back over here!" Astrid shouted, attempting to keep the dragons and animals separated.

Hiccup held onto a clucking chicken, trying not to get pecked by it. "You know what I'm learning from all this? Chickens are really, well, chicken." He said thoughtfully.

"You don't say?" Zenna asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"What if we showed them how much they have _in common _with the dragons?" Fishlegs suddenly piped up. Hiccup, Astrid and Zenna could only look at him in confusion.

"They both lay eggs, right? A Terrible Terror laid one last week!" Saying this, Fishlegs carefully placed the unusually large, green dragon egg (_to this day, nobody knows how such a small dragon like the Terrible Terror can lay such a massive egg_) on the floor near the chickens.

Clucking curiously, the chickens surrounded the egg and one sat on top of it like it usually would with its own.

"Alright, see? An egg's an egg, right ladies?" Hiccup asked them, hoping that this would work. Unfortunately, shortly after he said this, the egg hatched and the resulting explosion blew the chicken sitting on it sky-high.

"Until it explodes…" Hiccup deadpanned. Zenna then quickly tended to the newly-hatched Terror as Gobber and Mulch arrived.

"Everybody out, the storm is here!" Gobber announced. "What?! Already?!" Zenna exclaimed in shock while the rest cleared the arena.

"Ah, wha-wait! We haven't made any progress with the animals!" Hiccup protested. "Your father wants everyone in the Great Hall!" Gobber told him.

"We're not leaving until we fix this." Zenna said stubbornly. "Take the others. Zenna and I need to stay and keep working with the animals. They're…still afraid." Hiccup told the old blacksmith.

"You can't get eggs from a frozen chicken! We've got to get the animals in the barn!" Gobber told them sternly, herding Hiccup, Zenna, the animals and the dragons out of the Dragon Academy.

But when they arrived at the barn, the storm had already gotten so strong that the barn was now completely covered in ice and snow!

"So much for the barn." Gobber sighed. "There's no other place to hold them!" Mulch shouted over the howling of the wind. "There's still one place!" Zenna informed him.

"The Great Hall!" Hiccup yelled, pointing in the Hall's direction.

"So, we're gonna have the dragons and animals under the same roof? We know that won't work." Mulch chuckled nervously. "We have no choice, let's go." Hiccup said as he and his friends and their dragons got to work.

"Alright, keep 'em separate!" Mulch hollered as they trudged through the snow. "Got it!" Zenna yelled as she herded the dragons to one side of the group.

"This way!" Astrid shouted as she herded the yaks. "Come on, come on! Let's go! Oh, this way guys!" Fishlegs hollered as he handled the sheep.

Just when Hiccup and Zenna thought that nothing else could go wrong, the dragons got at it again and got into another fight! Startled by that as well as frightened by the storm, all the animals decided to make a break for it!

"Oh no, no, no…Come back!" Zenna shrieked as she and Stryka frantically tried to keep some of the animals from running off. Ruffnut was being attacked by a crazed chicken, Tuffnut was also trying to chase them, Fishlegs was then spun about by a fleeing yak. It was complete pandemonium and mayhem!

"Hey, I got this under control!" Snotlout said, standing in the way of three escaping yaks. But then he got trampled.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ooooh…ow! Okay, everything hurts." The poor boy whimpered after he got trampled into the ground.

"Aww…" Hiccup moaned, watching the animals flee into the storm. Looking at Zenna, who nodded seriously, Hiccup mounted Toothless.

"Where are you going?" Gobber questioned him. "I'm going after them!" Hiccup replied. "And so am I!" Zenna added, getting on Stryka's back.

"Forget it, Hiccup! We'll never get them rounded up in this storm, Zenna!" Gobber tried to reason with the two. "It's worth a shot!" Zenna said in defiance. "With Toothless and Stryka we can! Zenna and I have to try. If we don't, we starve to death." Hiccup said seriously.

"No! Your father and your parents will kill me if I left you two out here-!" Gobber shouted as the two friends readied for take-off.

"Sorry, Gobber!" "Be right back, Gobber!" With those words, Hiccup, Toothless, Zenna and Stryka took off into the sky.

"Hiccup! Zenna! Come back here! Astrid, will you talk some sense—" Gobber then turned around to see Astrid and everyone else about to get on their dragons too!

"Ah—No, no, not you too! Astrid! You're not going with…Ach! Get back here all of you!" Gobber's hollers fell on five pairs of deaf ears as the rest of the Dragon Riders went after Hiccup and Zenna.

In the Great Hall, everyone else was trying to stay warm. Suddenly the wind blew the doors open and the people cried of its cold.

"Move those tables against the doors!" Stoick ordered two men who obediently followed the Chief's orders. But no sooner had they done so, Gobber burst in.

"Stoick! The barn's been destroyed! The animals have scattered!" Gobber shouted. "Where's Hiccup and the others?" Stoick asked, noticing that the seven Viking teens were missing.

"I tried to stop him, Stoick. They went after the animals." Gobber admitted. "WHAT?!" Edgar yelled in horror. "You let Hiccup and _our daughter _go out into this storm?! Why Gobber, I oughta…" Henna marched up to the two-limbed blacksmith but, luckily for Gobber, was held back by some of the villagers.

That's when Mulch came back with two yaks. "I caught these two. I figured at least with these we'd be able to start a new herd." He said.

"You might want to take another look, Mulch." Gobber told him as he and Stoick headed out to search for the kids. Mulch took a quick peek and realized he had brought back _males_.

"Oh! Uh, never mind boys!" Mulch chuckled sheepishly.

Edgar and Henna both looked at each other and nodded. Rushing past, Mulch they headed out of the Great Hall to join Gobber in Stoick in their search. Their daughter was out there in the cold and there was no way they were going to let her freeze to death with her friends out there!

With their dragons serving as their lights, the seven Dragon Riders flew on through the fierce storm in search of the scattered farm animals.

"You find as many as you can. We'll herd them back to the Great Hall." Hiccup instructed his friends.

"Can we swing by my house? I'd like to get my heavy coat." Fishlegs asked meekly, already chilled to the bone. "We've got bigger things to worry about, Fish!" Zenna reprimanded him, squinting through the snow.

"Check this out!" Ruffnut then turned to see her twin brother punch himself in the face. "I'm so cold I can't feel my face." Tuffnut told her.

Ruffnut punched him herself to test it out. "Didn't feel it!" Tuffnut said in a sing-song tone. "That takes all the fun out of it!" Ruffnut huffed.

Suddenly Hiccup cried out, "There they are! Come on!" pointing to the animals down below. "Let's get to wrangling, everyone!" Zenna shouted as she and Hiccup dove down.

"Yaks to the left!" Fishlegs called out as he and Meatlug herded a bunch of yaks. "Chickens to the right!" Snotlout yelled, suddenly diving down and nearly collided with the Ingerman and Gronckle duo!

"Hey! I'm flying here!" Snotlout yelled at Fishlegs before having Hookfang hover over the fleeing poultry.

"Chickens! Over here! Follow me this way. Come on!" he commanded. That's when Hookfang decided to misbehave! "Wait! Where are you going? Ahhhhh!" Snotlout screamed, holding onto his dragon's horns for dear life.

Zenna was trying to spot some animals when Snotlout and Hookfang nearly crashed into her and Stryka!

"Focus, you two! _Focus!_" the one-eyed girl snapped only to be ignored as Hookfang and Snotlout flew away from them. Stryka just groaned and rolled her emerald green eye, hoping that the idiotic duo wouldn't do anything to mess the mission up.

Meanwhile, Fishlegs got a herd of sheep together. "Sheep! Hey sheep, this way! Baaahh! Baah! Baah!" the husky blond boy bleated and smiled upon seeing that the sheep were doing okay. "Hey, it's working! Baah!" he said happily.

But his happiness was short-lived when Meatlug got stuck under a log!

"Baahh!" Fishlegs bleated miserably. Good thing Astrid was there to cover for him!

"I got them! _Now!_" Upon Astrid's go signal, Stormfly launched a couple of spikes and made a makeshift corrall for the sheep. "Gotcha!" Astrid said, relieved.

But then, Snotlout just had to come flying out of nowhere and ruin it screaming, "Duuuhh! Gaaahhhh!"

"Snotlout, what are you doing? You're all over the place!" Astrid shouted angrily at him. "You try herding chickens with a dragon that doesn't listen to you!" Snotlout retorted, still hanging onto Hookfang for dear life.

"Hiccup! Three sheep!" Astrid yelled to the one-legged boy, spotting three sheep on a ridge up ahead. Without wasting any time, Hiccup urged Toothless forward.

The three sheep were walking along a dangerous steep path. Suddenly the smallest one of them, a wee lamb, slipped off the ridge, slid down a slope bleating helplessly in a panic and began to plummet into a ravine!

But just when the little lamb thought that its life was over, a male Night Fury swooped in and saved it! The animal could only look at Toothless in awe as he ducked his head down to give the lamb a gummy upside-down grin. Then gently, Toothless returned the little lamb to its parents.

"Good job, bud." Hiccup smiled, relieved to have saved some animals. "I gotcha!" he suddenly heard Zenna holler and turned his head in her voice's direction.

A bunch of chickens had been slipping about on the ice and Stryka carefully clutched them in her arms to carry them to safer ground.

"Great work there, girl." Zenna praised the female Night Fury.

Astrid and Stormfly then flew over to the duo. "Hiccup, Zenna, the storm is getting worse! I can't see anything!" she told them, trying to see but couldn't.

"We need some light, Stryka." "Come on, bud. Give us some light." Zenna and Hiccup told their Night Furies who both shot out plasma blasts to illuminate the darkness.

"Stray yaks twelve o' clock!" Hiccup alerted his friends, seeing four figures in the distance. "I see them and they are _huge!_" Tuffnut hollered as he and his sister rode Barf and Belch to fetch the yaks.

Zenna squinted at the four yak-like figures. Her eye widened when she saw that the yaks were, in fact, Stoick, Gobber and her parents!

"Those aren't yaks!" she yelled as loudly as she could but the Twins were too far away to hear her. Scooping up the things they thought as animals, the Twins grinned at each other.

"I got the yaks." Tuffnut said triumphantly.

"Put me down _right now!_" a familiar gruff voice bellowed to the Twins from below. Looking down, Ruffnut and Tuffnut saw that Barf and Belch had actually picked up Stoick, Gobber _and _Mr. and Mrs. Fiersome.

Without question, they released them and the adults landed on the ground with four loud '_thuds!_'

"Do I look like a yak to you?!" Gobber yelled angrily as he got on all fours in a very yak-like stance, ironically having landed beside a real yak.

"Mom! Dad! What're you two doing here?" Zenna questioned her mother and father as she and Stryka came in for a landing. "Looking for you, love! How could you and Stryka just fly off like that?" Henna said worriedly. "When we get back to the village, you and Stryka are grounded for a week!" Edgar said sternly.

Stryka and Zenna sighed, accepting their punishments. But Edgar and Henna sighed and hugged their daughter, just glad that she was safe and sound.

Now it was Hiccup's turn to face his father. Landing Toothless down, Hiccup looked at Stoick guiltily.

"You shouldn't be out here, Hiccup." The Chief said to his son sternly yet, nonetheless, still worried about him. "Dad, I'm sorry I let you down." Hiccup said, feeling guilty.

"It's not your fault, son. I'm taking you back." Stoick reassured him. "Let's hurry. The storm's getting stronger by the second." Edgar reminded him.

"Which way?" Gobber asked. "Follow our tracks." Stoick motioned to the ground. "There aren't any." Henna said, seeing that the wind and snow had gotten rid of all their footprints.

"So much for that idea." Gobber sighed.

Fishlegs' teeth chattered as he asked Stoick, "Sir? What do we do now?" All of the teens were now feeling the cold and shivering. "C-c-c-cold…" Zenna stammered, rubbing her arms desperately to keep warm.

Stoick looked at the seven teens in concern and advised, "Everyone, come together."

Immediately all of them huddled together and tried to stay warm. A little apart from them, the dragons watched as their humans battled the cold. Toothless and Stryka looked at Hiccup and Zenna, nodded and growled to their fellow dragons, who all nodded in understanding.

"That's odd…" Edgar muttered. "What are the dragons doing?" Henna mumbled. Hiccup, Zenna and everyone else turned to see the dragons walking over to them.

Then standing on their hind legs, Toothless and Stryka extended their wings and the other dragons swiftly followed, creating a shield to block out the snow with their wings!

"What are they doing?" Stoick wondered out loud. Hiccup smiled along with Zenna. "They're protecting us." They both said at the same time.

"It's their natural instinct." Astrid added with a smile.

Then the dragons blew out a few fireballs to keep everyone warm. While the humans were safe, the animals weren't. Toothless and Stryka saw the lamb and chickens they had helped earlier and bounded over to them. Gently, they nudged the animals into their little huddle. And eventually, _all _the animals joined.

"They're not scared of the dragons anymore!" Zenna said giddily as her parents smiled. Stoick looked at Hiccup. "Your dragons are really something, son." He said proudly. "Yeah, they are." Hiccup said, feeling proud of Toothless and all the other dragons as well.

The storm continued on well into the night and stopped just before dawn. Luckily for the little group of dragons, Vikings and farm animals, they were all safe. As the dragons shook the snow off their wings, Stoick looked at his son who smiled and along with Zenna, organized everyone into helping the animals get back to the village.

"They're back! And they're alright." Mulch said in relief amidst the cheering of the villagers as the group that had been missing entered the Great Hall with the animals. "And the animals are alright too!" Bucket said happily.

Suddenly Mulch nudged Bucket. "Uh oh. Here come the dragons." He said warningly as Hookfang came in. To Mulch's surprise, the Monstrous Nightmare had the sheep on his back and gently let them down. In fact, all the animals were now comfortable with the dragons!

"Will you look at that." Mulch remarked in amazement. Suddenly Astrid called out, "Hey, everyone!"

Hiccup and Zenna came in, each holding a chicken-and one newly laid egg.

"The chickens are laying eggs again!" both friends shouted, earning cheers from everyone.

"I was right. Chickens _do _lay eggs." Bucket grinned. As everyone celebrated, Hiccup and Zenna along with their parents watched as the dragons curled protectively around the farm animals.

'_We made our peace with the dragons when we saw that we could trust them._

_Turns out they actually have instincts to protect us. All of us._

_Life on Berk just got a little warmer…_'

"We're getting close, Hicc. Soon, all the dragons will be fully integrated into our world." Zenna grinned at Stryka and her best human friend. "Yeah…I'm really looking forward to that day, Zen. Really looking forward to it." Hiccup smiled at her and Toothless as they watched the heartwarming scene in front of them.

**Read and review **

**Reviews make me happy!**


	5. The Terrible Twos

**Hi everyone! I'm SO sorry it took so long to post this. It's kind of hard balancing being a student and a writer.**

**Just a quick heads up, I'm gonna put this story on hold for a week or two until I post the next episode. Reason is because I'm gonna be working on a special story for July, which is my BIRTHDAY MONTH! So until the next update, feel free to review whenever and whatever you want.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own HTTYD.**

**The Terrible Twos**

'_When you're riding a dragon, communication is key..._'

When you're a Dragon Rider, it's best to always keep your skills sharp. So it was no surprise that in the forest that the seven original Dragon Riders, Hiccup, Zenna, Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, were with their dragons, Toothless, Stryka, Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, Barf and Belch, to do some flight training.

"Follow me!" Hiccup commanded the others and led them through the trees. "Low-level evasive maneuvers! Come on, bud!" Toothless, Hiccup's trusted Night Fury, followed his best friend and began to zigzag through the trees.

"Alright, Stryka. Let's show 'em what we've got!" Zenna patted her Night Fury's head and urged her forward. Stryka, Zenna's dragon and Toothless' mate, quickly followed the boys and maneuvered through the branches at incredible speeds as well.

'_You almost have to read each other's minds..._'

That was true for Hiccup and Toothless as well as for Zenna and Stryka. But for Snotlout and his Monstrous Nightmare, Hookfang, it was a whole other story.

"Hey! What are you doing?" the Jorgenson boy yelled as Hookfang swooped into the trees like a maniac. The two of them soon flew out of the trees, Snotlout covered in branches and bruises.

"Are you trying to kill me? We gotta go back, I think you missed a branch." Snotlout said to his dragon angrily. In response to that, Hookfang made a beeline again for the trees and came back out of them.

"Got it!" Snotlout said dumbly, now even more bruised…and with a couple of twigs stuck up his nose.

'_And you've got to have an open mind, because sometimes your dragon knows better than you…_'

As Toothless and Stryka expertly weaved through the trees, keeping their Riders safe, Astrid and her Deadly Nadder, Stormfly, approached a fallen tree as their first big obstacle.

"Stormfly, up!" Astrid yelled. But knowing that the maneuver could cause her Rider to hit the tree Stormfly did the opposite and dove down, throwing Astrid off her back! The blonde shield maiden screamed as she sailed over the tree and then safely landed back on her dragon.

"You were right, Stormfly. It was down, I almost died." Astrid breathed out in relief, grateful for her dragon's initiative.

"Almost died? I _would've _died!" Snotlout exclaimed, flying alongside her and still wearing leaves and twigs.

As he removed one twig from his nose, Astrid complimented, "That's a good look for you." Prompting Snotlout to place the twig back in his nose which made him look even more stupid than he was now.

"Hey Hiccup…I think we're one Rider and one dragon short." Zenna reported, her one violet eye scanning the area. Hiccup looked around as well and noticed that a familiar husky, blond Viking boy and equally husky female Gronckle were nowhere to be found.

"Has anyone seen Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked his friends. "I saw him yesterday. Does that count?" Ruffnut asked as she rode on Barf, her half of the Hideous Zippleback she and her twin brother shared, and didn't really seem so interested.

Sighing, Hiccup and Zenna backtracked to search for the missing members of their group. "A big Viking and a big dragon…Shouldn't be too hard to find." Zenna quipped.

It didn't take long for them to find Meatlug stuck in a tree and Fishlegs stuck in another one as well.

"Oh, there you are Fishlegs. Are you okay?" Hiccup asked. "I'm fine. Just hanging out. It's not like I crashed or anything. Okay, I crashed. There. I said it." Fishlegs said sheepishly, his rear end facing the one-legged boy and one-legged girl.

Hiccup and Zenna both grabbed Fishlegs' legs and pulled as hard as they could, only to accidentally tear the boy's pants off.

"_Oops._" Both friends said awkwardly as they held the pulled garments up. "And there goes my dignity." Fishlegs mumbled, turning red. "Sorry about that, Fishlegs." Zenna apologized as she handed the pants to Hiccup. Both of them tried again only to get the same results.

"Yeah, you're pretty stuck." Hiccup told Fishlegs. "_Really_ stuck." Zenna added.

Looking at Toothless, Hiccup got an idea. "I think I know how to get you down, but you have to stay perfectly _still._" He told Fishlegs, who had no idea what his friend was planning. "As in totally still as a rock." Zenna reminded the stuck Ingerman.

"Why? What are you two going to do?" Fishlegs asked, feeling uneasy. Hiccup and Zenna then turned to Toothless and Stryka.

"Careful, bud, he's not wearing any pants." Hiccup mumbled to Toothless. "Use the weakest blast you can make, girl. Don't wanna burn his butt off." Zenna whispered to Stryka.

Now Fishlegs was beginning to get worried. "Huh? Wait a second, what does my lack of pants have to do—" he began to ask but got cut off when Toothless and Stryka fired out two weak plasma blasts. Fishlegs yelped as he was blasted out from between the tree and landed in the bushes.

"Thank you." The husky blond Viking boy said to Hiccup and Zenna. "You're welcome, Fish." Zenna said before cringing at the sight of Fishlegs in his underwear.

"Um, I believe those are mine." Fishlegs said awkwardly to Hiccup who tossed him his pants back.

"Now, what are we going to do about Meat-" Hiccup began before a crash sounded from behind them. The three Viking teens and two Night Furies turned to see a female Gronckle drop from the trees.

"-lug." Hiccup finished. "Well, that takes care of that." Zenna quipped.

"How did this happen?" Hiccup asked Fishlegs. The husky Ingerman boy twiddled with his thumbs nervously as he tried to explain. "I don't know! I was just flying along, taking notes on the flora and fauna…typical guy stuff. And something weird jumped out of the bushes. It was like a…flaming squirrel!" he exclaimed.

Hiccup and Zenna looked at him dubiously.

"Really? A flaming squirrel?" Hiccup asked. "That makes no sense." Zenna told Fishlegs.

"Or a chipmunk?" Fishlegs tried again. "Also makes no sense." Zenna said, not believing him.

"Or some other flammable rodents?" Fishlegs said helplessly. "_Again_, that makes no sense." Zenna told him. "Zen, please just stop!" Fishlegs shouted at her, miffed.

Fishlegs then turned to Hiccup who didn't look convinced either. "I don't know Hiccup, it scared us. Isn't that enough for you?" he said, annoyed and then got back on Meatlug and left.

Zenna laughed a bit and looked at Stryka. "That Fishlegs has such a weird imagination." She remarked shaking her head.

"Did you hear that? A flaming squirrel." Hiccup said in disbelief to Toothless.

"Flaming squirrels don't exist." Zenna agreed with him. "Everyone knows there's no such thing as a…" Hiccup said as the four of them began to walk back home, when suddenly…

"FLAMING SQUIRREL!" both Hiccup and Zenna yelled and ducked behind a log when something slightly larger than a rodent and covered in flames suddenly dove out of the bushes!

"Whoa! You saw that, right?" Hiccup asked Toothless, Stryka and Zenna. "It nearly hit us! Of course I _did!_" Zenna exclaimed.

Both teens and their dragons cautiously peered from their hiding place. What they saw made Hiccup's emerald green eyes widen in surprise and Zenna's one violet eye widen in amazement. Hiding in a small natural alcove, was a little dragon with orange wings and massive horns on either side of its slightly large head.

"That doesn't look like any dragon I've ever seen before…" Zenna mumbled before smiling and turning to Hiccup. "Hicc, that could be an undiscovered species!" she whisper-exclaimed.

Hiccup cautiously walked over to the little dragon along with Zenna. "Hey, little guy. Who are you?" he asked the little dragon softly.

But Toothless suddenly butted in, not looking happy. "Whoa, settle down big fella!" Hiccup chided the male Night Fury. Stryka rolled her one green eye at her mate's behavior and gently but firmly nosed him back.

"I've never seen anything like him." Hiccup remarked, looking at the new dragon closely. "Neither have I…" Zenna murmured in agreement.

That's when Toothless and Stryka decided to look at the new friend their Riders had made. While Stryka purred and smiled toothlessly at the little guy, Toothless snorted and growled.

"You're not helping." Hiccup told Toothless. "At least Stryka likes our new friend." Zenna said as her Night Fury curiously sniffed the little dragon.

"Hey, I think we may have discovered a new species here!" Hiccup said, getting excited when Toothless suddenly pulled him away from the scene and tried to get him to leave.

"Whoa, hey, Toothless! What has gotten into you? Looks like he's hurt!" Hiccup yelped, noticing that the dragon was huddled against the rocks. Toothless huffed as his Rider went back.

Stryka rolled her eye again and continued nosing the new dragon while Zenna tried to coax it out. "It's alright, little one." Zenna said soothingly. Hiccup knelt down beside her and carefully reached out to the injured dragon.

"Don't be afraid. We're friends." The boy said gently and took out a sprig of dragon nip. The dragon growled and snapped at it suspiciously.

"Don't be afraid, it's just a little dragon nip." Hiccup reassured it. "Yummy for a dragon's tummy." Zenna smiled. The dragon cautiously took a sniff before eating the sprig of dragon nip. It then chirped and jumped into Hiccup's arms.

Toothless then got up in its face and snarled. "Come on, play nice." Hiccup told him and then yelped, "Ah! Little dragon, big claws!" as he felt the dragon's claws slightly dig into his tunic.

"I'll hold him." Zenna offered, carefully taking the dragon from Hiccup and carefully cradled it in her arms. Stryka cooed and nuzzled the little dragon as if it were her own hatchling. "Aw, Stryka you make a good mother…" Zenna cooed as she petted the dragon, who playfully nipped at her fingers.

"Come on, let's go. We'll fix you right up." Hiccup told the dragon. "Let's hurry back…I think its claws are beginning to dig into my arm…" Zenna muttered, feeling the dragon's claws slightly scratch her arm as it wriggled about in her arms.

Toothless growled at the new dragon as it was carried away by Zenna and Hiccup.

_His _Hiccup.

Stryka took notice of it and warbled disapprovingly. The male Night Fury groaned as the one-eyed female Night Fury followed the two Riders.

Even his own _mate_ liked the newcomer!

Toothless knew, just _knew_, that bad things were gonna happen the second the little newcomer was taken into the Dragon Academy…

The very minute Hiccup and Zenna brought their new little friend into the Berk Dragon Academy, their friends immediately crowded around them.

"We found this little guy in the woods." Zenna told them, handing the dragon back to Hiccup as its claws were really beginning to rake her skin.

"This is so exciting! It's a whole new species!" Fishlegs exclaimed, getting all hyped up.

"Doesn't look like a flaming squirrel to me." Tuffnut remarked upon laying eyes on the new dragon.

"We have no idea what it's capable of! There's no telling what it might do." Fishlegs said in awe, looking at the new dragon from all angles as Hiccup gently lowered it to the ground.

Tuffnut stooped down to the dragon's level and commanded, "Flame: do it!" to which the dragon then jumped and latched onto his nose!

"Ah, get it off, get it off, get it off!" the male Thorston yelped as he tried to shake it off of his face. Ruffnut quietly snickered at her brother's misfortune until Tuffnut managed to get the dragon off and it went after her next!

"Oh, that is funny." Tuffnut remarked, watching his sister struggle.

"Come on, you guys, this is serious! We have to figure out what to do with him! He's hurt!" Hiccup told them sternly.

"_He's _hurt?" Tuffnut asked, rubbing his swollen nose. "Hold still…" Zenna instructed him as she produced a small jar of ointment to rub on Tuffnut's nose. "Hey, spare me some of that!" Ruffnut shouted, finally prying the dragon off of her.

The dragon, meanwhile, had crawled back to Hiccup who picked him up. "He's just really scared. He'll settle down." He reassured the other Dragon Riders.

Suddenly Fishlegs piped up with, "Um, new species, remember? We actually don't know _what _he'll do." Then Astrid chimed in and said to everyone else, "Well, _somebody's _got to take him home."

At those words, everyone else stepped away from the circle and left Hiccup with the dragon. Hiccup looked at Zenna in surprise.

"As much as Stryka and I want to take him in Hicc, Serpent and Serpentine take up most of the remaining space in our house. Sorry." Zenna said apologetically.

Stryka warbled sadly. She really liked the little newcomer and wanted to take care of him. But she knew that Serpent and Serpentine, Zenna's parents' Hideous Zippleback, already took up most of the space at home. Plus, Serpent and Serpentine were still pretty young and still needed her to look after them.

Hiccup understood and smiled at the dragon. "Well big guy, here's your somebody." He said and the dragon chirped at him, confused.

But Stoick, Hiccup's father and the Chief of Berk, wasn't exactly welcoming the new addition to the Haddock household later that night.

"No, no, no! He's not staying here! I've got a one-dragon limit!" Stoick told Hiccup gruffly as he prepared to make a fire.

"Oh, come on! He's not a very big dragon! Think of him more like…a flaming squirrel." Hiccup said convincingly. "Don't want one of those either." Stoick said flatly as he placed the last log in the fire and turned to his son's Night Fury.

"Toothless, what are you waiting for?" Stoick asked expectantly. Toothless prepared to light the fire. But just as he gassed up, the new dragon blasted out his flame at the fireplace.

Toothless can only stare at the fire in shock while Stoick remarked, "Ah, looks like you've been torched." Making the male Night Fury scowl in the only way a dragon could.

"Oh, that's his name, by the way. _Torch._" Stoick walked over to his son and petted the newcomer.

"So, he can stay?" Hiccup asked hopefully. "Well, can't throw him out now! We just named him!" Stoick told him as he went to cook dinner for him and his son.

Hiccup then prepared a large basket of fish for Toothless and a platter of one fish for Torch. "Okay, a hundred for you. And one for you. There you go, boys, your first supper together." The auburn headed boy told them before joining his father for dinner.

Toothless hungrily smacked his lips. He couldn't wait to eat! But when he looked down, Toothless found his overflowing basket of fish now utterly empty! He glanced at Torch and saw that the little dragon had eaten his fish. Toothless put two and two together and realized that _Torch _had eaten his dinner. The male Night Fury barked at Hiccup to get his attention, who promptly came to clean up.

"Whoa, Toothless! You're sure hungry tonight, aren't you, bud?" Hiccup said cheerfully, not knowing of his Night Fury's plight.

Toothless groaned and just followed Hiccup as he carried Torch upstairs to sleep. "Okay, Torch. This is where you're gonna sleep." Hiccup told Torch, setting down a small slab of stone on a corner of Toothless' own rock slab bed.

Torch tried the bed out and decided to try Toothless' bed. The male Night Fury didn't take this well and flung him off. Imagine his surprise when he turned his head away for just one second and turned back to his bed to find Torch back on his bed!

"Aw, look at that. He's made himself at home. Toothless, you don't mind sharing your bed for the night, do you?" Hiccup asked his friend. Toothless snorted and jumped onto one of the ceiling beams to sleep there instead. Torch curled up on the Night Fury's bed and fell asleep.

"Hope he sleeps through the night. He hardly ate." Hiccup said, a bit worried.

Toothless snorted indignantly. _He _hardly ate? Torch ate every scrap of his dinner! The male Night Fury snarled in annoyance.

"And you? Go to sleep." Hiccup just plainly told him as he climbed into bed. Begrudgingly, Toothless got settled and fell into a light sleep.

What nobody knew was that back in the forest, a large mother dragon had returned to get her baby. But upon returning to the same spot where she had left her baby and finding him gone, the mother dragon roared in outrage.

And that mother dragon? Well, that was _Torch's _mother.

Her roars woke Toothless up who quickly perked up. Thinking that his mate ought to come with him and investigate, Toothless leaped out of the window and ran to Zenna's house.

Stryka was already fast asleep, curled protectively around Serpent and Serpentine who were still in the Short Wing stage, when she heard her beloved mate cooing for her from outside Zenna's window. Carefully sneaking out so as not to wake the Hideous Zippleback youngling and her own Rider up, Stryka jumped out of the window and landed in front of Toothless with a soft '_thud!_'

Toothless nuzzled her briefly before motioning with his head to follow him. Stryka was a bit confused, until she heard the distant roars of an angry and distraught mother dragon.

Quickly the two Night Furies ran to a clear vantage point and listened carefully. The roars had faded but now, both dragons knew that something was gonna happen soon.

Something bad…

The following morning, Hiccup took Torch to the Berk Dragon Academy. It was time to figure out his secrets!

"Alright, Torch. Let's figure out what you are." Hiccup said as he gently placed him on the table in the middle of the arena. "This will just take a few minutes, boy." Zenna scratched the little dragon's chin and Torch chirped happily.

"Oh! This is so exciting! Documenting a whole new species…learning all about it…!" Fishlegs exclaimed, excited to the max.

"Wait, _learning?_" Tuffnut piped up in disbelief. "No thanks." Ruffnut declined. "Come on you two, learning can be fun. _Especially _when it involves dragons." Zenna chided them as she helped prepare the testing materials.

"There's _nothing _in the Book of Dragons that looks _anything _like him." Hiccup said as he flipped through the Book of Dragons to search for any evidence. "We even get to determine what it's _called_. Heh. That is…that is a really big responsibility. I don't know if I'm ready for that." Fishlegs said in awe.

"I am! I'm gonna name the snot out of it!" Snotlout butted in. "I'd like to see you try." Zenna smirked, knowing fully well that the Jorgenson boy was a hopeless case in naming things.

Astrid got out the measuring tape and measured Torch's wings, careful to not miss an inch. "Twenty inches for the wings." She reported to Hiccup. "That's a big wingspan." Hiccup remarked.

"Big Wing! Big Span…_Big-Wing-Span_!" Snotlout spouted out. "Lame." Zenna told him.

"May I have the honor of administering the claw-test?" Fishlegs stepped forward to Torch and held up a piece of parchment.

Torch eyed the parchment curiously and then used his super razor-sharp claws to shred the thing to pieces.

"Look at these talons…They're razor-like." Fishlegs murmured. "Sharp-Claw! Razor-Feet! _Razor-Sharp-Claw-Talon-Feet_!" Snotlout exclaimed.

"Hold on. Is he serious?" Tuffnut asked Zenna who simply shrugged and said, "Apparently he is."

Fishlegs leaned over to Hiccup and whispered, "You know what's next, don't you?" Hiccup looked at him strangely. "No. Not really." He replied, confused. "Only the single most important test to determine a dragon's reaction to eels…" Upon seeing Hiccup's still confused reaction, Fishlegs finished his sentence with, "_The Eel-Reaction-Test!_"

Fishlegs then got an eel from a covered basket and held it up. All the other dragons hissed and backed away at the mere sight of the vile creature. Not Torch, though. In fact what he did after sniffing the eel was so incredible, it made all seven Viking teens gape at him.

The brave little dragon bit down on the eel and slurped it up and ate it!

"Holy Shields…" Zenna muttered in amazement.

"He ate it! He ate the eel!" Fishlegs exclaimed in surprise.

"Eel Eater! Come on, that's perfect." Snotlout tried to convince Astrid, Tuffnut and Ruffnut as well as all the others only to receive uninterested looks.

Hiccup, meanwhile, turned to Fishlegs. "Fishlegs, has there _ever _been a dragon who wasn't afraid of—" he managed to say before Fishlegs interrupted, "Never in recorded history. We're in uncharted waters, my friend." He said, laying a hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

"So Torch _is _an undiscovered species. Fascinating…" Zenna remarked. Torch chirped as Hiccup gently lifted him up. "You hear that, Torch? You're one of a kind." The boy grinned at him.

Then Fishlegs moved onto the next part of the examination, which was probably the most important of all. "Now we need to get him to fly." The Ingerman boy said seriously.

"Maybe if Torch saw Toothless fly? Toothless! Let's take a ride, bud!" Hiccup called out to his dragon who was seated on a sea stack above the Academy with Stryka.

But to Hiccup's surprise, Toothless just glanced at Torch before huffing and turning away. Zenna cocked her head quizzically at Stryka who looked somewhat uncomfortable and tried to avert her gaze away from Torch as well.

"Toothless!" Hiccup called out again only to get the same response. "Stryka and I can do a demonstration. Right, girl?" Zenna called out to Stryka. The female Night Fury merely, however, ignored her Rider and stayed by her mate's side.

Hiccup and Zenna were dumbstruck. Since when did their dragons start ignoring them?

"Ha, ha, ha! So much for the dragon trainers." Snotlout said mockingly and got on Hookfang proclaiming, "We've got this!"

"Watch and learn!" the Jorgenson boy said proudly. Then his Monstrous Nightmare took off into the sky at top speeds, once again intent on scaring his Rider senseless!

"_Hooookfang!_" Snotlout screamed as Hookfang flew about like a crazed dragon around the area, flew past Toothless and Stryka on their sea stack not even getting a reaction from the two Night Furies before finally coming back to the arena.

"Torch, _never _try any of that." Zenna advised Torch who just chirped.

"Okay, your turn. Don't think you have to live up to that." Snotlout told Torch, still woozy from his dragon's joyride.

Torch then got to the ground. But much to everyone's confusion, didn't take off and started circling the floor.

"What's he doing?" Ruffnut asked. "I think something's wrong." Astrid observed, a bit worried that Torch was hurt.

"Aw man, we broke him!" Tuffnut groaned, fearing the worst.

"Maybe he can't fly?" Hiccup guessed. "I guess Torch might still be too young…" Zenna remarked.

That's when Torch proved them wrong.

First, Torch began to emit embers from his mouth. Then, he slowly rose up into the air and proceeded to fly around the arena in circles, all the while still emitting sparks! The teens watched in awe as Torch steadily gained speed, circling the entire arena before coming back to the center and landed back on the ground!

"I have _never _seen a dragon fly like that!" Zenna exclaimed in amazement. "You…are one incredible little dragon!" Hiccup told Torch as he jumped into his arms.

That's when they all noticed the Academy's floor.

"Whoa…Look at that burn mark!" Ruffnut pointed to the cyclone-like burn mark on the ground, courtesy of Torch's flaming lightshow of a flight. "Look at _this _burn mark." Tuffnut then held up his singed hand, prompting Zenna to get a pot of burn cream out of her waist pack.

"Did you see how it flew? It spun like…like a _typhoon!_" Fishlegs said in awe. "And he came back just like a _boomerang!_" Astrid chimed in.

"Hot-Spitter! Flaming-Combacker!" Snotlout yelled, hoping his ideas would be any good. Instead Fishlegs shook his head. "No." he said before coming up with the perfect name for Torch's species.

"_Typhoomerang._"

Everyone thought of it as a really good name.

Well…almost everyone.

"Typhoomerang…? Nah, I don't get it." Snotlout said, confused. "It's a combination, Snotlout. You know, typhoon and boomerang…" Zenna said before seeing Snotlout's still confused face and sighed, "Never mind…"

Later that night, Hiccup, Toothless and Torch were in Hiccup's bedroom. While Toothless was staying as far away as he could from Torch, the little Typhoomerang was playfully scampering about and wearing Hiccup's prized helmet on his head while the auburn-headed teen tried to draw him.

"Okay, Torch. Hold still. I'm trying to draw you. You're getting your own chapter." Hiccup smiled at the dragon's antics when a familiar one-eyed female Night Fury and one-eyed female Viking flew into the room.

"I got some of the extra information from Fishlegs' observations on Torch earlier. I think these would be useful." Zenna held up a bunch of papers in her hands. Stryka cooed at Torch who nuzzled her before going back to playing.

"Thanks, Zen." Hiccup gladly accepted the papers. Then he and Zenna began to play with Torch. Every time Torch growled or made a small roar at them, the two teenage Vikings would go, "Gerr…Rarr, rarr! Rarr!"

In fact they were so busy with their little game that neither of them heard the strange roars from outside. But Toothless and Stryka did. And they both knew that it was Torch's mother! Quickly they nosed into the trio, Toothless unintentionally swatting the charcoal pencil from Hiccup's hand and Stryka accidentally sweeping Zenna's papers fluttering down to the first floor!

"Toothless! Look what you did!" Hiccup said in disbelief. "Stryka, it took me half an hour to compile all of that!" Zenna said reprimandingly. Toothless and Stryka warbled, hoping to get their attention directed to outside only to get brushed off.

"And now I've got to get more charcoal. Toothless, you behave yourself while I'm gone." Hiccup told Toothless as he went downstairs. "And _I _have to get all those papers back. Stryka, stay here and keep an eye on Torch with Toothless." Zenna told her Night Fury and joined Hiccup downstairs.

Toothless barked in alarm and tried to stop them both. "Calm down, Toothless. We'll only be gone a minute." Zenna chided him. "Hey, it's okay, Big Guy. Be right back." Hiccup reassured him before he and Zenna went downstairs.

Toothless and Stryka were now stuck with Torch. Stryka warily eyed the baby Typhoomerang and Toothless narrowed his eyes at him. The roars sounded again and this time, Toothless and Stryka knew that something had to be done.

Toothless attempted to grab Torch, who evaded his grasp and jumped onto a beam. Stryka managed to get the baby dragon off of there and tried to catch him as well. Once again, Torch managed to slip away. This went on for a few more seconds until Torch went for Toothless' tail and bit it! Toothless roared in pain and retaliated. Stryka vainly tried to keep the two apart but had to duck as Torch blew out a fireball that set one portion of the floor on fire!

Hiccup and Zenna had just finished getting more charcoal and shuffling the research papers back into order when they noticed the blaze from above!

"Oh no! Hicc, your room's on fire!" Zenna yelped. Quickly Hiccup headed up the stairs with her. "_Toothless!_" Hiccup exclaimed upon seeing his Night Fury's panicked look.

Fetching his blanket, Hiccup flung it against the flames to smother them out with Zenna's help. Finally the fire died out, leaving the acrid scent of smoke in the air. "Thank Thor your Dad's not around…" Zenna coughed, covering her mouth.

Hiccup nodded in agreement before turning to Toothless and Torch. "Wh-what is going on here? Toothless, why did you do this? What is wrong with you?" the freckle-faced boy asked incredulously.

Zenna also looked at Stryka in scolding. "Stryka, I told you to watch over Torch with Toothless and what did you two do?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Toothless and Stryka both roared in disbelief. Did their best friends _seriously _think that they were the ones who started the fire? And did they _not _hear Torch's mother angrily roaring for her baby? Deciding that they needed to get more evidence, both Night Furies leaped out the window.

"Toothless! Wait!" "Stryka! Where are you going?!" Hiccup and Zenna both tried to call them back but they were already long gone.

Torch cooed curiously at the duo. "What on earth is going on with them?" Zenna wondered out loud. It's okay, big guy. He's starting to worry me too." Hiccup told Torch, worried.

Once outside, Toothless and Stryka bounded out to the forest. The two Night Furies were just as fast on land as they are in the air and quickly raced across the forest terrain, jumping from tree to tree until they finally found the source of the commotion.

Two young Typhoomerangs much like Torch were in a clearing, playing together. Suddenly a wild boar emerged from the bushes. Feeling hungry, the wild boar charged at the two helpless younglings! Suddenly an even _bigger _Typhoomerang appeared.

It was Torch's mother!

Already mad about her other baby missing, the mother Typhoomerang blasted out her flames and cornered the wild boar before swirling around in the flames. Toothless and Stryka looked on at the scene in shock and noticed the burn mark Torch's mother left. It was a complete replica of the burn mark Torch had left at the Academy but bigger!

Both Night Furies looked at each other worriedly. If they didn't get Torch back to his mother, who knows what could happen?

The next day, Hiccup, Zenna and Torch were with Gobber at the forge. And both teens were currently discussing about their dragon problems.

"It's so strange. Stryka liked Torch but then all of a sudden, she…wants to like get rid of him…" Zenna mumbled, trying to think of a logical explanation.

Hiccup was more concerned about Stryka's mate, who was namely _his _dragon. "It's weird. It's like, Toothless is jealous. Which is great. So…My first girlfriend is a dragon." Hiccup said the last part in a somewhat sarcastic tone. "I thought _Astrid _was your first and _last _girlfriend?" Zenna asked jokingly in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Gobber straightened up from his work and turned to the two teens. "Another thing we have in common." He remarked. "Your girlfriend was a _dragon_?" Zenna asked the blacksmith, not really sure what he meant.

Gobber slightly nodded, earning a few weirded out looks from both Hiccup and Zenna before continuing. "Something must be going on under the surface. Dragons are complex creatures, Hiccup and Zenna. They operate on many emotional levels. Me? I've only got the one." He told them.

"So Gobber, you're saying that Stryka and Toothless know something that Hiccup and I don't?" Zenna asked quizzically.

Before Gobber could even answer, Toothless and Stryka bounded over to their Riders in a panic.

"There you guys are! Hiccup and I were so worried when you two didn't come home last night." Zenna said in concern. Stryka warbled an apology before setting her sights on Torch.

Hiccup, meanwhile, was trying to calm Toothless down. "Woah! Okay, Toothless!" he tried to soothe his dragon but to no avail. Toothless tried to get his and Stryka's message of an angry mother Typhoomerang by roaring and running around in circles.

"You see? _This _is what Zenna and I've been talking about." Hiccup said to Gobber before looking at Toothless again. "Toothless, settle down!" he said firmly.

But that's when Stryka made her move and grabbed Torch! "Stryka! What's gotten into you?!" Zenna exclaimed as her one-eyed Night Fury passed the little Typhoomerang to Toothless.

"Gobber! Grab him!" Hiccup yelled as Toothless tried to run off with Torch. The two-limbed Viking quickly blocked Toothless who growled through gritted teeth.

"You want to dance, big boy? 'Cause I've got my dancing shoe on!" he challenged the Night Fury before grabbing the tail as Toothless tried to make a run for it!

"Gotcha! Wooah!" Gobber hollered as he was pulled along into the forge, where he found something he thought he'd lost.

"My pan pipes! Now I can get the band back together!" Gobber said happily as he pulled out the instrument.

Meanwhile Toothless and Stryka were figuring out a plan to get Torch back to his mother when Hiccup and Zenna both decided that enough was enough.

"Toothless!" "Stryka!" both Riders looked at their dragons right in the eye and said, "Back. Down."

The two Viking teens and two Night Furies engaged in an intense stare-off only to be interrupted by Gobber playing a tune on his pan pipes.

"_Not. Helping._" Hiccup and Zenna both muttered to him. "Sorry." Gobber said sheepishly, putting the pan pipes away.

Finally, Toothless and Stryka conceded and let Torch go. The little Typhoomerang quickly jumped back into Hiccup's arms.

"Stryka, whatever is going on, this isn't like you at all." Zenna scolded her dragon. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but I don't like it." Hiccup also told Toothless. Not wanting to argue anymore, Toothless and Stryka just left.

Gobber played a mournful tune on his pan pipes, making Hiccup and Zenna look at him again incredulously. "What?" Gobber asked sheepishly. Zenna sighed and just motioned to him to hand her the pan pipes.

Later that afternoon, Hiccup and Zenna managed to track Toothless and Stryka down. "I'm sorry, girl. But you and Toothless are going to have to go into a timeout." Zenna stated simply as she and Hiccup both mounted their dragons.

The ride to the Cove wasn't a smooth one on account of both Night Furies resisting. "Seriously?! Calm down, Stryka!" Zenna yelped as she struggled to keep her dragon under control. "Woah! WOAH! Toothless! The Cove…is _this _way!" Hiccup shouted as Toothless tried to steer him off to another location.

"Where are you going? No! We're going to the Cove!" Hiccup insisted as he pulled Toothless back into the right direction. After some initial struggle, Zenna managed to get Stryka to follow the boys to the Cove.

Oh, if only they had seen the giant burn mark just a few feet away from them…

Finally the two Dragon Riders got their dragons to their Cove. "Okay. You've gotta stay here."Hiccup told Toothless. "You too, Stryka." Zenna also said to Stryka. Both Night Furies barked in protest.

"I had never thought bringing Torch home would lead to this. I've gotta separate you two until I can figure this out." Hiccup sighed. "We're sorry, you two. But if you two keep acting like this, we have no choice but to keep you two here." Zenna reasoned with both Night Furies.

As the two teens began to leave, Toothless and Stryka scampered over to them and blocked their path. "Toothless…This is serious. You've got to stay here." "Stay here, Stryka. _Please._" Hiccup and Zenna insisted.

The two of them tried to leave again, only to get blocked by Toothless and Stryka again! "You two…are just as stubborn as we are." Zenna shook her head in disbelief. "Okay. Big, crazy, out-of-control dragons blocking our way out." Hiccup deadpanned.

Then, both teens managed to sidestep and escape! "Or not!" Hiccup and Zenna shouted as they quickly got out of the Cove. Toothless and Stryka roared to get them to come back. "I'm sorry, Stryka. I'm sorry, Toothless." Zenna murmured as she and Hiccup left. Hiccup could only try to ignore Toothless' sad roars as they left.

That night, Toothless and Stryka were moping about when they heard Torch's mother again! The angry mother Typhoomerang was now going on a rampage! Toothless and Stryka tried to get out of the Cove again and again only to keep sliding back in. The only thing the two Night Furies could do was roar and hope that their Riders could hear them…

The next morning, Hiccup and Zenna went to the Dragon Academy without their dragons. When they told them of their recent dilemma, they got mixed responses.

"You did the right thing with Toothless and Stryka. They'll snap out of it." Astrid reassured the two as they tended to Torch. "Yeah, but what if they don't. Then you two won't have dragons to ride, and if you two don't have dragons to ride then you two can't be the joint-leaders of the Dragon Academy! Ha!" Snotlout said as he rested on Hookfang.

"Yeah, then _I'd _take over. Do you really want that?" Astrid asked him rhetorically.

Just then, Ruffnut and Tuffnut arrived on Barf and Belch. "You guys would not _believe _what we just saw." Tuffnut told them.

"Excuse me, we're having a power struggle." Snotlout interrupted. "We're _not _having a power struggle." Hiccup and Zenna told him.

"The whole forest; _ultimate destruction_." Tuffnut reported. "It was beautiful. The whole thing was _torched_." Ruffnut added dreamily.

At the word '_torched_', Hiccup and Zenna looked at Torch. "Torched?" Hiccup wondered out loud. "Oh no…" Zenna murmured, paling a bit. Hiccup then looked at the Twins.

"Show us." He said seriously.

Getting rides from Astrid and Snotlout, Hiccup and Zenna followed the Twins and their Zippleback to the forest. There, burnt into the ground, was a gigantic Typhoomerang burn mark.

"Like we said; _ultimate destruction_." Ruffnut repeated her brother's words. "We've seen that burn mark before." Hiccup observed. "It's exactly like the one Torch made." Zenna said.

"Not _this _big." Astrid told them, a bit nervous. "You know what this means. Big burn mark—" Fishlegs managed to say before Hiccup and Zenna both realized what their Night Furies had been trying to tell them.

"_Big Typhoomerang_."

Looking up, all seven Dragon Riders saw an adult version of Torch flying about and breathing fire in a rage.

"He looks really mad." Tuffnut remarked. "Uh, it's not a he, it's a she. _That's Torch's mother._" Hiccup corrected him. "Torch's very _angry _mother." Zenna added.

"Torch is a _baby._" Astrid gasped in shock. Torch was oblivious to his mother's rage and just chirped.

Hiccup looked at Zenna. "That's what Toothless and Stryka were trying to tell us." He told her. "And we didn't listen to them…" Zenna muttered, feeling guilty.

Fishlegs looked at Torch nervously. "Whoever gets between that mother and this baby _is gonna get fried!_" he squeaked and handed Torch over to Tuffnut.

"You take it!" Tuffnut quickly shoved Torch into his sister's hands.

"I don't want it." The female Thorston said and gave Torch to Snotlout who just said, "Just leave it and let's get out of here!" and passed the baby Typhoomerang to Hiccup and Zenna.

That's when Torch's mother zeroed in on her baby, who was being held by two humans! "Uh oh." Hiccup and Zenna both gulped. "Let's get Torch down and let's get out of here, Hicc." Zenna whispered to Hiccup.

Hiccup gently placed Torch on the ground. "Now, uh, go home to your mama." He encouraged Torch, waving him away.

But Torch stayed and his mother decided to swoop down and attack!

"_Run!_" Hiccup and Zenna both yelled. The seven Dragon Riders and their dragons quickly made a run for it with Torch and his mother right behind them!

"You guys go that way, Zenna and I'll lead her back into the forest away from the village." Hiccup instructed the others as he and Zenna went on ahead. "Hiccup! Zenna!" Astrid shouted after them. "Just follow what Hiccup says! We'll be okay!" Zenna shouted as they kept on running.

A few minutes of running, Zenna looked back to see Torch following her and Hiccup. "Hiccup, Torch is still attached to us!" the one-eyed girl told her friend. "Oooh, _please _stop following us." Hiccup pleaded with Torch.

Reaching the Cove, Hiccup and Zenna shouted the two names that really mattered to them in the whole world.

"_Toothless!_"

"_Stryka!_"

Hiccup and Zenna jumped into the Cove. Good thing Toothless and Stryka heard their cries and caught them on their backs. With two roars, the two Night Furies took flight and got out of the Cove.

"Thanks bud. I'm so sorry. I should have listened to you." Hiccup apologized to his loyal best friend. "I should've listened to you, girl. Can you forgive me?" Zenna also apologized. Both Night Furies crooned, meaning that all was forgiven.

Now all they had to do was deal with Torch's mother!

"Toothless, evasive maneuvers." "Time to put all that training to good use, Stryka." Following their Riders' commands, Toothless and Stryka weaved in and out of the trees. But Torch's mother was tenacious and kept on following them!

"Oh why won't she stop?" to answer Hiccup's question, Torch popped up from behind Hiccup and chirped.

"That's why." Zenna face palmed. Hiccup turned around in shock. "What the-? Torch? What are you doing? You need to be with your mother." Hiccup told the baby Typhoomerang.

"Hiccup! Mama Typhoomerang's gaining on us!" Zenna shouted, noticing that the big Typhoomerang was getting closer.

"Toothless, we have to try something else." Hiccup said as they tried to dodge. "What do we do?!" Zenna yelped, narrowly avoiding Torch's mother's flames.

Hiccup quickly formulated a plan. "We'll use her size against her. Toothless, _up!_" Hiccup commanded his Night Fury who obeyed without question. "Follow their lead, Stryka!" Zenna quickly guided her dragon.

Once they were up in the air, Hiccup and Zenna both shouted, "Now, _dive!_"

Toothless and Stryka both did a power dive and Torch's mother followed. Then at the last second, they both pulled up. Due to her massive size, Torch's mother couldn't pull up in time and crashed!

"I hope she's okay." Hiccup said worriedly. "She was just trying to get her little baby back. I hope she's not hurt." Zenna said in agreement.

Torch immediately jumped of off Toothless and went to his mother. Nuzzling and licking her, Torch managed to wake his mother up. Happily reunited, mother and son cuddled followed by a blue Typhoomerang and yellow Typhoomerang the same size as Torch!

"Would you look at that? Torch's got siblings!" Zenna remarked, smiling along with Stryka. "Good job, bud. Everybody's back where they belong." Hiccup smiled at Toothless.

Torch then got on his mother's back along with his siblings. "Take care, Torch." "Goodbye Torch." Zenna and Hiccup both said their farewells. Torch chirped at the two teens as his mother took off and he and his siblings left.

"Let's go home, Toothless." Hiccup said to his best dragon friend who crooned happily. "Let's go back to where we belong, Stryka." Zenna grinned to her Night Fury who smiled toothlessly at her.

Together, the four of them flew back to the village. Later that night, Stoick and Zenna's parents, Henna and Edgar, were at the Chief's house cooking a stew together with Gobber who was playing a tune on his pan pipes.

Hiccup and Zenna were sitting on two chairs, feeding their two Night Furies fish.

"Ah, I wrote this just for the occasion." Gobber said as he finished his tune.

"Zenna and I should have known you two were just trying to protect us. That's what you two do." Hiccup smiled at Toothless and Stryka.

"That's what you two do the best-protecting us." Zenna grinned as she scratched both Night Furies gently behind their ears.

That's when Toothless and Stryka both regurgitated half of their dinners right onto their Riders' laps.

"And then you do _that_." Both teens concluded, a little grossed out but still happy.

'_Communication between dragon and rider goes both ways…_'

We see Hiccup and Toothless along with Zenna and Stryka flying through the forest in perfect sync. Hiccup and Zenna trusted their dragons and Toothless and Stryka trusted their Riders so their flights were in perfect harmony.

'_Not only must the dragon follow the rider's lead, but the rider must listen to the dragon as well…_'

The four of them soon arrived at the spot where Torch's mother had burnt down. Now, the area was filled with flowers planted in the pattern of the Typhoomerang's scorch mark.

'_Because sometimes what the dragon is trying to say is what you really need to hear._'

Circling the area a few times, the four best friends flew upwards to have another great day of flying together.

**I apologize if this chapter is really lame and lacking in story structure and whatnot. I'll try to be better next time.**

**And like I said, I won't be able to post another chapter for a week or two because I'm gonna be busy writing a special birthday fic in time for my 16****th**** birthday. See you later!**


	6. In Dragons We Trust

**This story…is still alive!**

**My most sincere apologies and a HUNDRED THOUSAND pardons. I know I haven't updated this story in ages and I am SO SORRY.**

**You see apart from insane school projects (which still need to be done) assigned almost every single day, a typhoon struck our place and we were without electricity AND Internet for about 6 Whole, Freaking Days!**

**But I'm back now with another update so hopefully, things will start to look up.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own HTTYD (no matter how much I wished I did -_-)**

**In Dragons We Trust**

Dragon Training begins and ends with trust. Both the dragon's and the Rider's. So it was no surprise that on this particular afternoon, Hiccup and Zenna decided to take their friends and their dragons out of the Academy to do an extreme version of the Trust Fall Exercise with their dragons.

'_As you fly through life it's always good to know who you can trust…_'

Hiccup and Zenna both smiled contentedly as they fell through the air, lying on their backs and the ocean rapidly approaching as they continued their descent. Flipping themselves over to face the oncoming water, both teens patiently waited…

'…_and who you can't._'

Just as they were inches away from the frigid ocean, Toothless and Stryka swooped in and caught them on their backs. "Nice catch, bud. A little close…"Hiccup praised his trusty one tail finned Night Fury. "Good job, girl. You always come through for me." Zenna smiled at her one eyed Night Fury. Both Toothless and Stryka crooned in pleasure and soared up into the clouds.

'_Hiccup and I know we can always count on Toothless and Stryka. And it's important for them to know…that no matter what…they can count on us._'

Joining their other Dragon Rider friends, Hiccup and Zenna simultaneously voted on the next one to try the Extreme Trust Fall-Fishlegs Ingerman and his female Gronckle, Meatlug.

"It's your turn. Jump!" Hiccup coaxed the chubby blond Viking. Fishlegs, however, remained on the saddle. "I don't want to jump! I…" he managed to protest before Hiccup told him, "You have to _believe _she's gonna catch you! It's a trust exercise."

"You and Meatlug can do it! Just trust each other." Zenna encouraged the husky Viking teen. "I like to do my trusting on the ground, thank you very much!" Fishlegs squeaked nervously.

"Like this, _chicken-legs._" Snotlout Jorgenson said pointedly and, with a whoop of excitement, slid off of his Monstrous Nightmare, Hookfang, and fell.

Seconds passed…and Hookfang made no move to dive down after his Rider.

"So…should we mention something to Hookfang?" Tuffnut Thorston asked while sitting on Belch, his half of the Hideous Zippleback he and his sister shared. "Let me sleep on it." Ruffnut Thorston, Tuff's twin sister, said nonchalantly.

"I think Snotlout's gonna hit the rocks instead of the water." Zenna observed, seeing the rock spires jutting out from the ocean near the cliffs.

Astrid on her Deadly Nadder, Stormfly, then shouted to Snotlout's dragon, "Hookfang! Get him!"

Hookfang lazily turned his gaze to his Rider. "Not feeling the trust!" Snotlout was screaming as he hurtled down towards uncertain doom! Panicking, Hookfang quickly dove down to catch him, which he did. Now the only problem was that they were going too fast to maneuver properly!

"AH! Coming in too hot! AHH!" Snotlout yelled as they crashed through a house's roof.

And Hiccup and Zenna both saw that it was _Mildew's _house.

"Holy Shields Snotlout, get out of there quick…" Zenna muttered, feeling both annoyed by the black haired bruiser's stupidity and worried for his and his dragon's safety.

Back in Mildew's house, Snotlout and Hookfang were recovering from their crash. Once he managed to refocus, Snotlout nervously looked around the house until his gaze landed on…

"_Mildew!_" Snotlout gulped once he saw the old coot scowling at him. Immediately getting on Hookfang, Snotlout high tailed it out of the old Viking's house and caused even more damage to the roof.

Mildew glared at the fleeing teen. "You'll pay for this!" he yelled at the Dragon Riders and their dragons. Fungus, Mildew's pet sheep, merely bleated.

As their friends flew with them, Hiccup and Zenna worriedly looked at each other. "Ohh…something tells me we're gonna hear about this…" Hiccup mumbled, already imagining how steamed his father, Stoick the Vast, was gonna be. "Thanks a lot, Snot." Zenna said sarcastically, glaring at Snotlout with her one violet eye. "It wasn't my fault!" Snotlout protested, only to get his butt nearly burned by Hookfang.

That evening in Hiccup's house, Hiccup and Zenna looked at the piece of wood Stoick had set down on the table in front of them, along with a hammer and some nails that Edgar and Henna, Zenna's parents, had placed as well.

"Shingle again? Didn't we have roofing material for dinner last night?" Hiccup said jokingly, in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Hammer and nails again, Mom and Dad? That's the fifth time this week." Zenna tried to joke around as well.

But there was no denying the fact that both teens' parents were upset.

"It was an accident, Dad. I'm sure Mildew's making it sound worse than it is." Hiccup said in defense. "That's what he usually does whenever he wants to complain about something." Zenna chimed in.

"A dragon and a huge, obnoxious boy crashed through his roof…twice!" Stoick said sternly. "Well, sure, it sounds bad if you're gonna…stick to the facts." Hiccup mumbled sheepishly.

"And while it was only Snotlout's fault, Zen, it is also partially yours and Hiccup's as well." Edgar told his daughter. "Can't you and Hiccup get him to listen to you two, love?" Henna asked Zenna. "Mom, Dad, trust me. Trying to get Snotlout to listen is like trying to teach a yak how to lay eggs." Zenna deadpanned, rolling her eye.

Stoick carried on with, "Of all the houses on the island, a dragon had to crash through Mildew's! You two know he hates dragons more than anyone else!" Hiccup sighed a bit. "Eh, Zen and I know…You might wanna talk to him about his attitude." He suggested.

"Or you can ship him off to another tribe. Berk will be a lot better off without him." Zenna piped up, only to get disapproving looks from both Stoick and her parents.

"Listen to me, Hiccup. I gave you and Zenna the responsibility of training those dragons. Everyone knows that! All eyes are upon you two, son. Whatever those beasts do reflects on you two. And whatever you two do reflects on me." Stoick explained to his emerald eyed son.

"It also reflects on the tribe's reputation. Zenna, you and Hiccup need to keep the dragons under control." Henna advised her daughter. "Not to mention some of your fellow Riders." Edgar added, referring to Snotlout and the Twins.

"I'm sorry, Dad. You're right." "Okay Mom and Dad. We will." Hiccup and Zenna both mumbled. "You and your friends are gonna go back to Mildew's and fix that roof. _Without your dragons!_" Stoick, Henna and Edgar both told the two teens sternly.

Hiccup and Zenna glanced at their Night Furies. "Got a break there, bud." Hiccup told Toothless. "Looks like we won't be spending the whole day flying, girl." Zenna shrugged. Both Night Furies purred. Well, at least they could have some alone time.

When both teens turned to leave, Stoick stopped them along with Edgar. "Ah! Not so fast! Aren't you forgetting something?" Stoick asked Hiccup and then removed his boots.

"It's boot night! They need to be aired out." He handed his son his boots while Edgar handed his own boots to his daughter.

"UGH!" Hiccup and Zenna both gagged at the foul stench.

"I think it's going to take more than…air." Hiccup pinched his nose in attempt to dull his sense of smell.

"You said it…" Zenna grimaced as they both carried their fathers' boots outside. Their friends were also outside as well with boots of their own. And they weren't happy either to do the sickeningly gross task of airing out their parents' boots.

"Uck. I hate boot night!" Fishlegs complained, looking a bit green.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were holding a boot each. And Ruffnut was shoving the left boot she had into her brother's face. "Why is his left foot always so much smellier than his right?" Tuffnut wondered out loud, while trying to swat the boot away.

Astrid remained calm and just simply placed her father's boots out on the doorstep and quickly went back inside.

Zenna then quickly rushed to her house to place her Dad's boots in front of her house. Along the way, she caught sight of Snotlout. The poor Jorgenson boy had the boots with him and the smell was getting to him.

"Oh no…" Snotlout mumbled and promptly lost his lunch and dinner as soon as he had placed Spitelout's boots on the ground. "You okay, Snotlout?" Zenna called out to him. "No…" the teen Viking replied weakly.

Sighing, Zenna fetched a bottle of medicine and went to the poor boy to give it to him. After that, she went back to Hiccup's house and wished the Chief and his son and Toothless goodnight before going back home with her parents.

The night slowly grew darker as the snow began to fall. The cold winter air would've done good for the all the boots. But in the morning…every single boot in Berk had disappeared.

Stoick was puzzled to find his boots gone when he woke up. Even Hiccup was scratching his head in bewilderment. He placed the boots right where he usually placed them whenever it was boot night the night before. How could they have disappeared?

"Where are my boots?" Stoick asked and then saw Gobber, Edgar, Bucket, Mulch and a few other Vikings come over, all barefoot.

"Where are _your _boots?" the Chief asked them. "Nobody knows." Edgar shrugged. "They've all been stolen! Every last one!" Gobber told his old friend.

"Oh! That explains why me feet are so cold." Bucket realized, slow as always. "Who could have done such a thing?" Mulch asked.

Zenna had come with her father and was now looking at Hiccup, confused. Boots couldn't just disappear in the middle of the night. Well, unless they were stolen.

That's when Mildew showed up, also bootless. "All I know is that they left a mighty big footprint." He stated, pointing at a large dragon footprint with his staff.

Fishlegs carefully took a look at it. "Oh! Those are _Zippleback_ tracks. You can tell by the half-moon shaped arches. That's Dragon 101 guys, I don't gotta fill you in on that." He said knowingly.

"I never should've given him Dragon Tracking lessons…" Zenna face palmed, knowing that this sort of info was just what Mildew needed to peg the dragons as the criminals.

Luckily Hiccup thought fast and said, "So a dragon walked through here-a Zippleback, according to my friend, Fishlegs. But that doesn't mean he took everyone's boots."

Mildew then replied with, "Well, there's just one way to find out. Follow the footprints."

Everyone then decided to follow the old man. Hiccup and Zenna just looked at each other, praying that the Zippleback had been a wild one and had already flown off. Because if Mildew proved his theory, the dragons were gonna be in trouble for sure.

The footprints led all the way to the Dragon Academy. Barf and Belch were there, still sleeping, along with a huge pile of chewed up leather boots.

"Oh Odin, no…" Zenna sighed, seeing Mildew's triumphant look. "So there's a bunch of boots piled around a Zippleback. That doesn't mean…" Hiccup managed to say before noticing the villagers' displeased looks.

"Okay, fine, he took the boots." The one-legged teen said in defeat.

Almost immediately, the villagers began to complain.

"How are we supposed to do any work in this weather without our boots?" "This is outrageous!" a bunch of Vikings grumbled in annoyance.

"Now how long before something's done about these creatures, Stoick? How much more can we stand?!" Mildew shouted to the Chief.

Hiccup and Zenna were about to try diffuse the situation when Gobber stepped in. "Listen to yourselves…My feet are cold! You're _Vikings_! Everything is cold! I'll fix your boots for yeh. You'll be back to work in no time." He addressed the crowd.

Stoick nodded his thanks. "You all heard Gobber. You'll be getting your boots back as good as new." He told his people.

While the villagers looked comfortable with that, Mildew was not. "That's it? No consequences for these dragons?" he asked Stoick bitterly. "They took our boots, Mildew. The world isn't coming to an end!" Stoick said sternly.

"If it were, the sky would be ablaze and Valhalla would be opening her doors wide open." Edgar chimed in. "Well said, Dad." Zenna agreed with him.

"Oh, don't be so sure. Dragons are wild beasts. There's no telling what else they'll do behind our sleeping backs." Mildew retorted. "Even dragons need to sleep, Mildew. That's what they all do at night too. I highly doubt they'd be up to something in the middle of the night." Zenna told him off, folding her arms across her chest.

"They don't destroy things on purpose!" Hiccup decided to speak up. "Dah!" Mildew grumbled, much to Zenna's amusement.

"But you do have a point, Mildew."

At that statement, Zenna gave Hiccup a shocked look while Mildew said, "Uh-whuh?" in confusion.

Hiccup carried on. "They _are _wild animals. And they need us to keep an eye on them. And rest assured we will do just that!" he proclaimed, standing tall and proud. Then he looked at Barf and Belch, who had just woken up, and realized that their presence wasn't really helping.

"Will you get out of there?" he gently shooed the Zippleback away and turned to the crowd.

"You heard him, everyone. We'll keep a close eye on every dragon and make sure they don't get into any mischief. You can count on us." Zenna said confidently.

Trusting the Chief's son and his one-eyed friend, the crowd dispersed. When everyone had left, Zenna looked at Hiccup. "Just out of curiosity, _how _exactly are we going to keep an eye over _every _dragon on Berk?" she asked him.

Hiccup was already one step ahead of her.

"We're going on night patrol." The auburn headed Viking teen told his friends once they had all gathered that afternoon. "Night patrol! I love it!" Tuffnut exclaimed excitedly.

Then he asked, "What is it?" Zenna gave him a look that clearly said, '_You are such an idiot._'

"It's where we patrol…at night. To keep an eye on the dragons. Make sure they don't get blamed for anything." Hiccup explained to his friends.

Fishlegs raised his hand. "Um, have you cleared this with our parents? Because _some of us_ might not be allowed out after a certain hour." He said meekly.

"Not allowed? Or _afraaaaid_?" Snotlout jeered, getting all up in his face. "Hey! _Things happen after dark._" Fishlegs told him in annoyance.

"Don't worry, Fishlegs. Hiccup and I made sure to ask permission to all of your parents earlier. They're all fine with the night patrol." Zenna reassured him. Then Hiccup sternly looked at the other Viking teens.

"Guys! We have to do this. You heard Mildew: he wants the dragons banished." He said seriously. "And that's not okay. If we want the dragons to stay, we'll have to make sure that they aren't blamed for any transgressions of the law." Zenna added, confusing Snotlout and the Twins on the word '_transgressions_' but didn't really care to explain the meaning.

The Twins immediately got excited. "Permission to shoot first and ask questions later?" Ruffnut requested eagerly. "Permission to skip the question?" Tuffnut joined in. "Both requests denied!" Zenna told them, miffed.

"We're just patrolling! No one is shooting anyone!" Hiccup reminded the mischievous duo. "I have a question! What's fun about that?" Tuffnut asked, already feeling bored.

"It's not supposed to be fun. It's a "_Hiccup_" Idea." Astrid told him. "Exactly." Hiccup said in agreement.

Then he realized what Astrid truly meant. "_What?_" he asked Astrid in confusion while Zenna merely laughed. "I totally agree with you, Astrid." The one-eyed girl giggled along with everyone else.

That night, the seven Viking teens split up to perform their night patrol. Astrid confidently strode to a house nearby and knocked.

"Hello sir!" she greeted the person who answered her door before looking up and noticed that it was a hungry Viking _woman _instead of a man who had answered her knock.

"Ah, ummm, ah—_ma'm_." Astrid corrected herself before continuing. "My name is Astrid and I'm with the Dragon United Monitoring Brigade." She said and showed her the sash bearing the group's acronym, which unfortunately spelt…

"_Dumb_?" the Viking woman asked her. "Yes. That is correct. Not my idea…" Astrid sighed, wondering why Hiccup chose such a stupid name for the group. But then she remembered the group's purpose and straightened up.

"But it _is _easy to remember. If you have any dragon-related problems, contact us. Just cup a hand on either side of your mouth and at the top of your lungs yell-" the blonde shield maiden managed to say before the woman just slammed the door in her face, clearly not interested.

"_Dumb._" Astrid deadpanned in defeat.

Meanwhile, Snotlout and Hookfang were doing their patrol. Something moved in the shadows, catching Snotlout's eye.

"Halt! Who goes there!" the Jorgenson boy called out. "Take a wild guess." Gobber answered back, making himself visible.

"I don't think I like your attitude." Snotlout frowned, strolling up to the blacksmith. "Right back at yeh." Gobber fired back. "Yeah…but I'm the one with the sash." Snotlout reminded him, puffing his chest out. "Let me take a closer look at that." Gobber yanked on the sash to inspect it, despite Snotlout's protests.

What the two didn't notice was Hookfang sneaking off to Odin knows where…

"Dumb. Well that suits you." Gobber remarked, looking at the acronym. Snotlout huffed, feeling annoyed. "Okay, I think we're done here." He said, turning to where Hookfang was earlier. But upon seeing that his Monstrous Nightmare was gone, Snotlout groaned and hastened to go look for him.

In another part of the village, Fishlegs cautiously patrolled. Suddenly a small noise startled him. "Oh! What was that?" Fishlegs whispered to himself, already scared.

Just then, another noise came from who knows where! This time it was loud enough to send the chubby Ingerman running and screaming in fright. Little did he know that the noise was just the Twins playing around, as usual.

"Whoa…" The Twins both breathed out, amazed at how well their little prank had gone before looking at each other and asked at the same time, "Did you see me scare him?"

_That _then started an argument between the two of them.

"No, I scared him!" Ruffnut told her brother.

"No, _I_ scared him!" Tuffnut shot back.

"No, _me!_"

"No, no, no!"

Ruffnut then chose this time to attack!

"Hey! Ugh!" the male Thorston griped and began to throw punches as well.

"It was me! I did it!" Ruffnut shrieked at him. "Clearly me!" Tuffnut retorted. Barf and Belch just looked at each other and shook their heads, clearly not amused by their Riders' antics.

Meanwhile, Hiccup, Toothless, Zenna and Stryka were patrolling the town from up above. Stryka crooned, happy to stretch her wings alongside her mate on this beautiful moonlit night. "Not one dragon out misbehaving, Hiccup." Zenna reported after scanning the whole area. Hiccup looked at Toothless who was also enjoying the cool evening air. "Well, Mildew will be happy to know what dragons do at night: they sleep like everyone else." He told his best dragon friend happily.

"And he says that we can't keep dragons under control." Zenna smiled at the duo before frowning.

"What is it, Zenna?" Hiccup asked worriedly. The one eyed girl decided to be honest. "Can we _please _change the name Dragon United Monitoring Brigade to _Berk Watch?_" Zenna pleaded.

"What's wrong with D.U.M.B.?" Hiccup asked stupidly but then realized the blunder when Zenna give him a deadpan look.

"Ohhh…right…Berk Watch _does _sound a lot better, now that you mention it…" Hiccup said awkwardly. "It most definitely does." Zenna lightly laughed before they flew their separate ways to get some much needed rest.

But then, in the middle of the night…something happened in the Great Hall…

Hiccup was awoken by Zenna's panicked voice coming from outside his bedroom window.

"Hiccup! Hicc! Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, will you for the love of Thor, WAKE UP!"

Yawning, Hiccup lazily got out of bed and went to his window. Zenna was impatiently tapping her foot, Stryka at her side, looking frazzled.

"Morning to you too, Zen…What's up?" the emerald eyed teen mumbled sleepily. "The Great Hall's been thrashed! _That's _what's up!" Zenna exclaimed exasperatedly.

The one eyed girl's words immediately woke Hiccup fully. "We'll be down there in a few minutes!" he called out to her before leaving to wake up Toothless and his father.

Soon in the Great Hall, Stoick, Henna, Edgar, Hiccup, Zenna and the rest of the Viking teens were surveying the damage. And the damage was plenty. Posts were covered in claw marks, tapestries were ripped to shreds…yep, the Great Hall had definitely been thrashed.

"Oh dear…" Henna murmured, sadly looking at the ruined tapestries. She had even helped make some of them and now they were destroyed. "It's alright, love. There'll be plenty more wonderful tapestries for you to make for this place." Edgar comforted her.

"Who could have done such a thing?" Stoick wondered out loud. "Oh, it looks like a dragon to me!" Fishlegs piped up, inspecting a post that was covered in claw marks.

"We don't know for sure, Fishlegs!" Hiccup said, worried that his friend's extensive dragon knowledge would worsen suspicions on the dragons. "Sure we do. Look at this claw marks. It was _obviously _a Monstrous Nightmare. The spacing of the talons is dead on." The husky Ingerman informed him, completely oblivious to his friends' distress.

"Once again, thank you, Fishlegs!" Hiccup said begrudgingly. "Oh, stop, it's just basic stuff." Fishlegs said, a little embarrassed at the praise he was getting.

"He is so naïve…" Zenna said, shaking her head.

"But how could this happen? We had every dragon accounted for at all times!" Astrid said in disbelief before turning to the other Dragon Riders and asked, "Right, guys?"

That's when Snotlout looked guiltily at his friends. "When you say, '_at all times_' and '_every dragon_', what exactly do you mean?" he asked hesitatingly. "Oh no, this has '_Idiot_' written all over it…" Zenna muttered under her breath. Honestly, she wondered why she was even friends sometimes with the pig-headed Jorgenson.

"Okay, what happened, Snotlout?" Hiccup asked his cousin patiently. "Well, I was detaining a suspect who wasn't showing sufficient respect to the sash." Snotlout began explaining, deliberately shooting looks at Gobber.

"I think I showed sufficient respect to a sash that says '_dumb_'" Gobber said coolly. "We've got to change that name." Astrid sighed, shaking her head slightly. "I suggested Berk Watch. We can either make new sashes now or ditch the things altogether." Zenna informed her.

Snotlout continued explaining. "Anyways, as I was questioning said suspect, Hookfang may have—and I'm not saying that he_ did_—but it is possible he wandered off for a few…" trailing off, the Jorgenson boy looked at his friends waiting looks and clammed up.

"How long was Hookfang gone, Snotlout?" Zenna asked, already having a bad feeling welling in the pit of her stomach.

"Seconds?" Ruffnut asked.

"Minutes?" Tuffnut asked next.

Finally Snotlout replied with, "Hours." Much to the other Riders' chagrin.

"Oh, that's way longer than minutes." Tuffnut remarked. "Please, Odin, let this be a sick dream. Just a sick dream…" Zenna mumbled, covering her eye and eye patch with her hands in an attempt to keep herself from freaking out.

But then Mildew arrived. "Oh no, it's true! The Great Hall! So many memories. My three weddings, their three funerals. Oh, the funerals!" the old man said in mock horror and wistfulness.

"He is a sick, _sick _old man." Edgar muttered under his breath. "Quite right you are, love." Henna mumbled, disgusted at the old man's presence.

"A dragon must have gone on a rampage. I hate to say it, Stoick, but you're gonna have to—" Gobber managed to say to the Chief before he interrupted with, "I know what he has to be done, Gobber."

"So do I!" Mildew proclaimed triumphantly.

Stoick turned to Hiccup and Zenna with a grave expression. "Starting tonight, every night, I want all the dragons put in the Academy under lock and key." He told them. Hiccup and Zenna could only look at him in shock.

"_Every _dragon, Stoick?" Henna asked worriedly. When the Chief nodded, Zenna's mother sighed. "Serpent and Serpentine aren't going to like this…" Edgar mumbled, shaking his head.

Mildew then stepped forward with an incredulous expression. Locking the dragons was good. But was that all the punishment those beasts were going to get?!

"What? That's it? _Look what they did!_" the old man gestured to the Great Hall's damage with his staff.

That's when Hiccup and Zenna decided to speak up. "This just doesn't make any sense! A dragon wouldn't just come in here and destroy the place! I mean, none of the food was even touched!" Hiccup exclaimed, waving to the untouched supply of fish near the main fire pit. "The Great Hall is a place where we all come together, Viking and Dragon alike. All of us know that so Hiccup and I don't think a dragon would do something like this." Zenna joined in.

"I don't know why dragons do what they do, but I'm not going to let them do any more damage." Stoick said sternly. "Mom, Dad, back us up here!" Zenna pleaded to her parents.

"I'm sorry love. But we have to follow the Chief's orders." Edgar sighed. "What the Chief says goes, Zenna. I'm sorry." Henna said sadly. Zenna visibly slumped and looked at Hiccup, who looked just as defeated as she was.

Late in the afternoon, Hiccup, Zenna and the rest of the Dragon Riders had to take their dragons to the Dragon Academy to put them there under lock and key. Thankfully, they were only going to confine them in the ring and not in the cages. Stoick was with Gobber and Zenna's parents when the teens flew over their heads. Serpent and Serpentine, Edgar and Henna's Hideous Zippleback, was obediently following Stryka and Zenna. Catching the adults' gaze, Hiccup and Zenna both gave them saddened looks before continuing on their way to the Academy.

"Oh, I hope Serpent and Serpentine don't have a rough night…" Henna said, worried for the young Zippleback following Stryka like an obedient child in the sky. "They'll be alright, love. After all, Stryka will be there with them." Edgar reassured her but gave Stoick a look that clearly said that he was also uncomfortable with his decision to lock the dragons up.

"You had to cage the dragons, Stoick. You had no choice." Gobber told his old friend upon seeing the regret on Stoick's face. Stoick heaved a sigh. The old blacksmith was right. If he hadn't done it, Mildew would've stirred up the island and the problem would've worsened. But still…it didn't feel right at all.

"I know. But to Hiccup, when I punish them, I'm punishing him and Zenna." Stoick admitted. "Yeah, that boy and his best friend both think the dragons can do no wrong." Gobber agreed, feeling sorry for his apprentice and one eyed friend.

"I just hope that he understands that while a father does what's best for his son, a chief must do what's best for the village." Stoick sighed. "You had to make a sacrifice for your people, Stoick. We understand that." Edgar told him. "I just hope that our children will also understand when the time comes. Especially for Hiccup…" Henna said hopefully.

"I'll bet my right arm that when Hiccup becomes Chief, the first person to officially swear allegiance to him would be Zenna. That girl will follow him to the edge of the world if she has to prove her loyalty!" Gobber said jokingly, making the two Fiersomes laugh.

Stoick had to smile at that. He knew Zenna very well. Where he had failed as a father back then, Zenna was there to fill whatever hole Hiccup had when he was alone and needed someone. The one eyed girl had become his son's rock and had stayed loyal to him from the day they met. In return, Stoick remembered that his son had taken up the role of becoming Zenna's surrogate brother when Elias had died.

No doubt that when the time came for his son to become his successor, Zenna would be by his side…and will stay with Hiccup to the very end.

Meanwhile at the Academy, the seven Viking teens were trying their best to make sure that their dragons were comfy. Zenna and Stryka were busily putting together a bed of soft hay and some blankets while Serpent and Serpentine ate their dinner.

"Sleep, little Meatlug in your bed, where yummy little boulders dance in your head." Fishlegs sang to Meatlug only to get sad growls from his Gronckle, who refused to sleep.

"That usually works! Our whole bedtime routine is upset! She won't even lick my feet, thanks to—" Fishlegs whined miserably before Snotlout cut him off.

"Watch it, Fishlegs! At least my dragon doesn't need a lullaby and a blanky." The Jorgenson boy taunted the husky Ingerman before noticing his friends glaring at him.

"Actually, it's _your _fault that all our dragons have to sleep in jail." Ruffnut pointed out, upset. "Yeah. You don't see _our _dragon going on a rampage and wrecking stuff." Tuffnut said in agreement before Barf and Belch promptly knocked down a few barrels.

"Well, not any good stuff." The male Thorston added in defense. "That still doesn't help our situation, Tuff." Zenna said blandly.

Hiccup, on the other hand, was still thinking hard. "I don't think a dragon wrecked the Great Hall or stole the boots." He said out loud. "You're not the only one, Hicc. Something awfully suspicious is going on." Zenna said in agreement.

"None of us wants to believe it either, Hiccup and Zenna, but you two saw the proof." Astrid told the two as the three of them stood in front of one of the Zippleback prints left behind at the Academy from yesterday.

"What proof? You saw the footprints, too. They were supposed to be made by a Zippleback, but they were no deeper than mine. Look at these! I could lie down in them!" Hiccup said, gesturing to the footprint. Zenna knelt down and began to inspect the footprint from all angles, her eyebrows scrunching up in concentration.

"Well, there could be a lot of explanations why a dragon made shallow footprints." Fishlegs informed the duo. "Like, hello, he was trying to be sneaky!" Ruffnut chimed in.

"That's true…" Zenna muttered, standing up with a skeptical look on her face as she tried to figure something out. "All right. Well, how do you explain the Great Hall?" Astrid asked. "That's another thing. I inspected the Great Hall and noticed that aside from none of the food being stolen, the claw marks looked rather strange. I can't really put my finger on it but something didn't look right." Zenna said, looking even more determined to solve the mystery.

The Riders' musings were interrupted by Hookfang flaming up and growling with annoyance at being locked up. Hiccup looked at Snotlout sternly.

"Snotlout, do something about him, please? We're trying to think over here." The auburn headed teen told his cousin.

"Yeah, I gave up thinking. Never been happier." Tuffnut said nonchalantly.

"I'm not the boss of him. He always does that when he gets angry!" Snotlout shrugged.

Hookfang, still in a peeved mood, walked away. And what he left on the Academy's stone floor got Hiccup and Zenna's attention: A single Nightmare footprint with scorch marks from the Stoker Class dragon's intense fire!

"Or goes on a rampage." Hiccup said in realization. "Of course, there weren't any scorch marks from the scratches!" Zenna said loudly as she realized this as well.

"_That's_ how Zenna and I can explain the Great Hall! We've got to tell my Dad about this!" Hiccup shouted, grabbing Zenna's hand. Along with their two Night Furies, the two teens headed for the Great Hall.

Toothless and Stryka stayed outside the Great Hall while their Riders tried to explain their findings to the Chief.

"Just hear me and Zenna out, Dad. When a Monstrous Nightmare gets mad, his whole body bursts into flames. Look at these walls! Not one single scorch mark." Hiccup pointed out, gesturing to the columns and tapestries. "Plus if a dragon _had _gone on a rampage, there would be telltale signs such as the scent of smoke _or _even more severe collateral damage. And judging by the ruined tapestries and columns turned scratching posts, the damage is surprisingly not as severe as usual." Zenna added.

"Hiccup, Zenna, until I have solid proof that it was something else, the dragons stay where they are." Stoick told the two teens before continuing on with the repairs.

Meanwhile Toothless and Stryka were patiently waiting for their Riders to come out when an unusual scent reached their noses. Curious, the two Night Furies followed the scent to the armory. Not minding the Viking who was now watching them, the two Night Furies went inside. Upon seeing a small flame burning near barrels of explosive fluids, Toothless and Stryka both yelped and went out of the armory as fast as they could.

**KABOOM!**

It was a good thing they got out of there in time…

Back in the Great Hall, Hiccup, Zenna and Stoick were helping with the repairs when they heard people screaming, "Fire, fire!"

Quickly, they rushed out to see the armory in flames!

"The armory! Grab some buckets!" Stoick ordered quickly but stopped short when he saw two familiar Night Furies looking at the fire in shock.

"_Toothless_?" the Chief said in shock. "_Stryka_?" Henna and Edgar had joined him and were now staring at their daughter's one eyed dragon.

The Viking who had been watching the two dragons pointed an accusing finger at the two. "It was them! They set the armory on fire!" he shouted accusingly. "How dare they?" a Viking woman on the scene gasped.

Hiccup and Zenna had come back with their water buckets when they heard the accusation. They dropped their buckets in shock, prompting their dragons to look at them.

"Toothless?" "Stryka?" Hiccup and Zenna asked them, stunned. But when their dragons ferverently shook their heads and crooned at them imploringly, both of them knew that their dragons were innocent. But before they could prove it, they had to put the fire out-_now!_

By the time the fire was finally put out, the armory had been razed to the ground. Warriors could only stare at the smoldering ruins of the place where they had all gotten their weapons for battle made and maintained.

"Every one of our weapons…gone!" Stoick muttered in disbelief. Gobber picked up a ruined sword. "Prudence! My poor darling, I'm so sorry. You should've had a long, blood-letting life." He said mournfully as he cradled the twisted up weapon.

Mildew then chose that time to make an appearance. "She didn't have to die, Gobber. Hiccup and Zenna's dragons left us utterly defenseless." He said in mock condolence while glaring at the two Dragon Riders.

"Dad, you know Toothless and Stryka wouldn't do this." Hiccup tried to reason with his father. "They're innocent, Chief. Please believe us." Zenna pleaded while her parents looked at each other and at Stoick worriedly.

Mildew scowled. "Sure, listen to your boy and his friend, Stoick. That's what got us into this mess!" he exclaimed, the villagers also shouting angrily in agreement.

As he began to leave, Mildew looked at Hiccup and Zenna spitefully. "See what happens when you leave your dragons all alone to wait outside?" he sneered. While Zenna could only glare at the old man, Hiccup carefully considered Mildew's words. Something the old man said didn't sound normal…

"What…did you say?" the one legged boy began to question Mildew when Gobber held up another destroyed sword and exclaimed, "Cindy! Oh, I guess your throat slicing days are over." In sheer regret.

Tired of all this, Stoick heaved a sigh and looked at his son and his best human friend. "These dragons have done too much damage. It's no longer safe to have them on Berk." He said.

If that was already hurtful enough, the next few words Stoick had to say were like daggers to Hiccup and Zenna's hearts.

"_I want them gone._"

"What?!" both teens shrieked in horror. "Finally!" Mildew shouted in triumph.

"Round them up, and take them all to Dragon Island." Stoick told Hiccup and Zenna before they could even protest.

Facing the crowd, Stoick announced, "By the end of the day tomorrow, there will be no more dragons on Berk!"

While some villagers were somewhat relieved, almost half of the entire village population was stunned speechless and horrified at the mere thought of never having dragons with them ever again. Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were shocked and could only gasp. Henna and Edgar held onto each other, terrified of the idea of having to send Serpent and Serpentine away.

Mildew, on the other hand, was really pleased. "Oh, what a glorious day that will be…_Party at my house!_" he whooped before grinning wickedly at Hiccup and Zenna. "Don't forget, you two. Right after you drop off your dragons, you two will be fixing my roof." He reminded them before leaving.

"Okay, that's it! Let me at him!" Zenna cried out, taking out her battle sticks and charged towards the old man but was held back by Hiccup. "Zen, just leave him be!" Hiccup told her off. Still feeling royally irked, Zenna put away her sticks and just scowled at Mildew's retreating form.

"This is wrong…" Hiccup muttered as he looked at his grief-stricken friends.

"I know, it's horrible. It's the worst day of my life…" Astrid said sorrowfully. "No, Astrid. Something here doesn't add up." Hiccup told her, the gears in his brain whirring.

"All I know is I'm losing my dragon…" Fishlegs whimpered. "For now…yeah. Okay, but I-I just need time to fix this." Hiccup tried to reassure his friends, but to no avail. "What are you talking about? It's over." Snotlout grumbled, walking away followed by Astrid and Fishlegs.

"Forget it, it's over." Ruffnut said despondently. "Yeah, forget it." Tuffnut agreed glumly as he and his sister left as well.

Zenna was the only one who stayed behind.

But when Hiccup looked at her, he was shocked to see tears streaming down Zenna's face.

"I'm gonna lose Stryka…?" she whispered fearfully. Hiccup pulled her into a hug. "We'll find a way to prove them innocent. Once we do that, the dragons will be allowed to return to Berk. But for now, we have to leave them at Dragon Island. But don't worry, Zen…_we'll get them back._" He whispered to her comfortingly.

Zenna sniffled and wiped her tears away as she and Hiccup let go of each other. She had to be tough now! This was not the time for an emotional meltdown!

But still…having to leave Stryka…the greatest dragoness in all of Midgard and the one non-human creature she had considered as her own flesh and blood…it was painful for Zenna to even think about.

One look at Hiccup's determined face, however, was enough to strengthen Zenna's resolve.

"_Okay?_" Hiccup asked her gently. Wiping the last of her tears away, Zenna nodded. "_Okay._" She replied with a steady voice.

The next day, with Gobber and Zenna's parents sailing a boat below them, the seven Dragon Riders flew to Dragon Island. The dragons all looked just as down as their Riders. But they were hopeful. Hopefully, things would be sorted out in the end…

"I'm gonna miss you…" Astrid whispered to Stormfly who warbled sadly.

Fishlegs had put together a pile of rocks for his dragon and looked at her sadly. "Okay, Meatlug. There's plenty of rocks if you get hungry…and don't eat any limestone. You know it doesn't agree with you." The husky blond Viking told the Gronckle, voice breaking as he said the last few words.

When Fishlegs left, Meatlug crooned sadly…and then fell asleep. Luckily, Fishlegs didn't see this so his feelings weren't hurt.

Snotlout took off Hookfang's saddle and looked at his dragon in the eye. "Be strong, buddy…I know you're gonna miss me—" he had just said this when Hookfang spied a bird and decided to chase after it, leaving his Rider all alone.

"Okay…He's crying…he's crying on the inside!" Snotlout said, his voice breaking a bit as he sadly watched his stubborn dragon chase after the bird.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut both took turns hugging Barf and Belch's heads while their Hideous Zippleback's necks intertwined in their own version of an embrace.

Hiccup and Zenna both took off Toothless and Stryka's saddles and placed them on the ground, all the while staying close to their Night Furies' sides.

"We'll be back for you. We promise." They both swore and began to leave. Toothless and Stryka rumbled worriedly and followed them to the beach, where Hiccup and Zenna turned around and stopped them.

"No bud! You and Stryka gotta stay here…and take care of the other dragons…" Hiccup told Toothless, tears welling up in his emerald green eyes.

"Mom, Dad, it's time…" Zenna told her parents softly. Edgar and Henna came up to Stryka with a cooing Serpent and Serpentine between them.

"Take care of him, Stryka dear." Henna told the one eyed dragoness, looking rather heartbroken. "They'll feel much safer as long as you're here. Make sure they eat properly and don't get into any fights." Edgar nodded to Stryka sadly as the Hideous Zippleback youngling trotted over to Stryka and warbled softly.

Toothless and Stryka looked at their Riders, who smiled brokenly.

"It's gonna be okay, Toothless. _Trust me…_" "Everything's going to be alright, Stryka. _I promise._" Saying these, Hiccup and Zenna both gave their two Night Furies a last hug before they boarded the boat and sailed back to Berk, Toothless and Stryka sadly watching them from the shore…

As they sailed back to Berk, Hiccup and Zenna could only wonder about how they were gonna possibly make things right. Mildew had once again, bested them and they had to do something fast. The old man may not have realized it but thanks to him and his stupid complaints, Berk had lost their final line of defense against any hostile attacks!

Then Hiccup suddenly said, "There's something Mildew said that I can't stop thinking about…h-he said '_see what happens when you leave your dragons to wait outside._' He _knew _Toothless and Stryka weren't with me and Zenna just before the armory fire."

Zenna looked at Hiccup curiously, her brain already coming up with ideas.

"So…?" Astrid asked uncertainly. "So…so he lives on the other side of the island. What was he doing in town? And how would he know where we were before the fire?" Hiccup asked, agitated.

"Unless…_he was the one who did it!_" Zenna concluded, her violet eye flashing in anger.

Astrid looked at the two best friends in surprise. "You two really think he set that fire?" she asked them. "I think he did all of it. And I think he did it so my Dad would get rid of all the dragons…" Hiccup said grimly. "Basically, we think Mildew has committed high treason." Zenna said simply.

All three of them lapsed into silence for a few moments.

Finally, Astrid looked at Hiccup and Zenna. "That's a pretty serious accusation. How are you two gonna prove it?" she asked them. The two best friends could only look at each other seriously.

They didn't have any plans now…but where there's a will, there's a way.

And they were going to find it…

"I…so…hate…this." Zenna groaned as she hammered in another plank, muttering curses with every strike of the hammer under her breath.

She and Hiccup were currently fixing Mildew's roof while the old coot was out. But as they were doing the job, the unbearable itch to drop into Mildew's house (_quite literally considering the fact that the roof had a huge hole in it_) and snoop around was so intense that they decided to throw caution to the wind and risk it.

Lowering themselves into Mildew's sorry living space, Hiccup and Zenna looked around. Hiccup spotted three shield paintings of Mildew's three wives, all marked with x's as well as an unmarked painting of his pet sheep, Fungus.

"Wife…wife…wife…" Hiccup mumbled, looking at the wives' paintings. "Three-timer…" Zenna muttered.

Upon seeing Fungus' portrait, Hiccup crinkled his brow in disgust. "Hmmm…well Mildew definitely has a type." He quipped and turned away from the wall of paintings, shuddering. "Like my father said, he is a sick, _sick _old man." Zenna shook her head.

The duo kept looking around. At one point, Hiccup and Zenna peered into a cauldron that stank to high Valhalla, making them gag. But at that moment, they saw something hiding under a white sheet. When they uncovered it, both teens were shocked to find a staff made to look like a Monstrous Nightmare claw and a pair of Zippleback feet!

"What the…?" Hiccup mumbled in shock. "I knew that old bag was cruel but _this _takes the fish…" Zenna growled, feeling angry all over again.

Just as they were figuring out what to do next, they heard footsteps approaching! Mildew was back!

"Climb, climb, _climb!_" Hiccup hissed at Zenna. The one eyed girl quickly shimmied up the rope and clambered onto the roof. Hiccup was next and held on tightly to the rope.

"Come on, Hicc, _hurry!_" Zenna whispered fearfully. Hiccup was almost to the roof when the door opened.

"I'm home, ladies!" Mildew announced and turned to his wives' paintings. "What's that you say…? _Nothing? Perfect!_" he said happily.

Hiccup nervously dangled from the rope while Zenna was frantically trying to help him. Fungus was ambling about in the house when a small drop of sweat dripped down from Hiccup's face and plopped onto his wooly little head.

Zenna began to freak when Fungus began to bleat and hurriedly grabbed Hiccup by the back of his tunic. Yanking Hiccup onto the safety of the roof, Zenna breathed out a sigh of relief.

"That was just too close…" she told the auburn headed teen. Hiccup nodded grimly before he and his best human friend watched Mildew exit his house with the two pieces of evidence they so desperately needed along with Fungus.

"Ah, these served us well, didn't they, Fungus? Shame we have to get rid of them." Mildew said to his sheep before tossing the fake Monstrous Nightmare claw and Zippleback feet over the cliff and into the ocean.

"There goes our physical evidence…What do we do now?" Zenna groaned miserably. Hiccup could only look out into the horizon with a steely gaze.

Right now, he and Zenna didn't have any evidence to show that the dragons weren't responsible for any of the recent mishaps…

But one way or another…they were gonna make things right once again…

**I hope this has somewhat satisfied you guys. Took me a long while because aside from my reasons that had been listed above, I really wanted this to be an intense chapter.**

**I promise I'll try my best to update more often!**

**-GuardianDragon98**


	7. Alvin & the Outcasts

**This story is back!**

**I'm so sorry for the mega long wait. Aside from school cramping my writing schedule, I wanted this chapter to be one of the most intense and dramatic chapters I've ever written. And I think that I did fairly okay and this has got to be the LONGEST chapter I've ever written so far!**

**Enjoy!**

**Note: I do NOT own anything.**

**Alvin & the Outcasts**

'_There's an old Viking say: When your friends are roasting on a spit, you're the one who feels the fire…_'

On Dragon Island, the dragons were utterly miserable without their Riders. Thanks to Mildew banishing them, the dragons were looking for a way to blow off steam. In Hookfang and Barf and Belch's case, their way was by getting into a fight amongst the bleached bones of the Red Death. This was something that didn't sit well for Toothless and Stryka, who both roared at the bickering duo to stop. Once that situation was taken care of, both Night Furies plodded over to their saddles. Crooning sadly, they both lay on the ground with their heads on their paws and waited for their Riders to come back.

'_Mildew has made the entire village believe that dragons are too wild, that we all can't live together in peace. He's wrong! And Hiccup and I are going to prove it._'

Back on Berk, Hiccup and Zenna had rallied their friends together to search for the discarded Zippleback feet and fake Nightmare claw staff. So far, things were not looking up.

"Oooooch…We've been here for hours and we haven't found anything!" Snotlout loudly complained. Hiccup and Zenna had been looking up at the clouds with longing when they heard him say that. "Quit complaining, Snot." Zenna told him, rolling her eye. "We've been here for ten minutes and you've done nothing than build…_that._" Hiccup pointed to the soggy sandcastle his cousin had made, slightly annoyed.

"What is that ugly work of stupidity anyway?" Zenna raised her eyebrow at the Jorgenson boy. Snotlout proudly gestured to his work. "_That _is Snotlout Manor. And all I need now is a queen." He said suavely to Astrid, making the blonde shield maiden groan in disgust.

That's when Tuffnut decided to do some redecorating on Snotlout Manor.

"Aaaarrrrrrr!" he yelled as he stomped on the sandcastle until it was nothing but sand and sticks.

"What-What are you doing?" Snotlout asked, flabbergasted. "Storming the castle." The male Thorston replied, much to his sister Ruffnut's pleasure.

"Can we please get back to our current task right now?" Zenna told them off with a glare. "Come on, guys! I'm telling you. Mildew framed our dragons! Zenna and I saw dragon-feet in Mildew's house and we watched him throw them into the ocean." Hiccup said sternly.

"Not to mention a fake Monstrous Nightmare claw." Zenna added.

"I don't mean to be Norbert the Negative, but the ocean is really, _really _vast. And our chances at finding those dragon-feet are as good as Snotlout and Astrid…" Fishlegs managed to say before Astrid warned him, "Don't go there!" with a glare. "Going nowhere." Fishlegs squeaked and shut up.

Astrid then turned to Hiccup and Zenna. "Look, Fishlegs is right. Even if Mildew did throw them in the ocean, they're not just gonna wash up on shore here." She told the two Dragon Trainers.

Suddenly, Snotlout cried out, "I found it!"

"It's a miracle…" Zenna said in awe. Hiccup was pleased. "GREAT! Ehm…You were saying?" he smiled cheekily at Astrid.

But much to his disappointment, Snotlout had actually found something else entirely different.

"I haven't seen this since I was a baby. You never forget your first bludgeon." The black haired Viking boy said, holding up a miniature bludgeon. "Spoke too soon, Hicc." Zenna sighed.

Hiccup could only groan, "Just keep looking." And continued combing the beach with his friends.

Meanwhile in the forge, Gobber was busy hammering away. With all the weapons destroyed, the two-limbed blacksmith had his hands (_both the appendage and real one_) full.

"One down, 354 to go." Gobber said, putting a finished sword down as Stoick and Zenna's parents, Henna and Edgar, came around. "You still have a long way to go, Gob." Henna pointed out. "I better get to the mines then." Edgar sighed. "Can't you do it any faster? Until you restore our weapons, we're completely defenseless." Stoick told his old friend seriously.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before sending the dragons away." Gobber replied as he got to work on another sword. "You know I had no choice. They destroyed the armory." Stoick said in defense. "But the dragons could have also been our second line of defense." Henna said in agreement with Gobber. "And now that they're gone, Berk could be vulnerable to enemy attacks." Edgar added, much to Stoick's dismay.

"This would be a bad time to be attacked." Gobber said to nobody in particular to which Stoick, Henna and Edgar answered with, "We know, Gobber."

"Not that there's ever a good time, but this would be particularly bad." Gobber decided to carry on. "We know, Gobber." The three parents replied again.

"Especially by Alvin." At that juncture, Edgar and Henna looked at each other in confusion while Stoick's face turned grim.

"The Treacherous. Our oldest and most feared enemy, who'd kill us all to take Berk for his own." Gobber continued. "I GOT IT, GOBBER!" Stoick said loudly before frowning.

"Alvin the Treacherous…" the Chief muttered disdainfully. "I've never heard of this Alvin the Treacherous." Edgar remarked. "That's because he's been our enemy long before you, Henna and your children moved here, Edgar." Gobber explained to him. "Is he really that dangerous?" Henna questioned, a bit worried. Stoick turned to her and her husband, his face grim. "There's a reason why he has '_Treacherous_' in his name." he replied.

Well _that _made the Fiersomes all the more worried. Without the dragons, how was Berk going to be protected from the likes of Alvin now?

We now move far away from Berk to an island of rocky despair and constantly plagued by dragon attacks. This sorry little island is known as Outcast Island. Here, all Outcasts that had been banished from Berk due to grievous crimes dwell. And they are led by the most brutish Outcast of all…

_Alvin the Treacherous._

"Alvin, they're coming back!" an Outcast soldier yelled to his leader as the island was bombarded by fireballs coming from attacking dragons.

Alvin glared at the winged reptiles laying waste to his land and glared even harder at his incompetent soldiers.

"Out of me way! You can't find good marauders these days." Saying this, Alvin took down an incoming dragon. But alas, even the sheer number of dragons attacking was too much for this Outcast.

"Alvin, there are too many of them! We need to get inside!" Savage, Alvin's second-in-command, shouted. Alvin merely glared once again but followed Savage to the main stronghold. Just in time too because a huge burst of flame exploded outside of the door as Savage closed it!

Alvin stomped to the center table to gather his men. "Oh, I've had it with these dragons…Is the ship ready?" he growled. "We still have a little more work to do." An Outcast soldier reported meekly.

"That's not my problem, is it? We sail for Berk immediately." Alvin spat and jabbed his finger at the map laid out in front of him. "We'll land here and under the cover of night." He said and began to leave to ready his ships.

"Why aren't we taking the whole army?" Savage asked, following Alvin quickly. Alvin faced him with a malicious grin on his face. "We're not there to fight Stoick. We're there for two men!" he told his right-hand man and, with a treacherous tone, added, "_The Dragon Conquerors_."

At this, Savage brightened up. "Oh, and you'll have them? We hear they're both ten feet tall with the strength of two dozen men." He said. Alvin chuckled. "Well…shouldn't be too hard to find them, should they?" He remarked.

What Alvin and the Outcasts didn't know was that '_The Dragon Conquerors_' were really…

"Zenna and I are telling you! We saw a pair of Zippleback feet in Mildew's house. He must have used them to make the footprints of the dragon who supposedly stole the boots." Hiccup told his father, straight to the point.

"There was also a fake Monstrous Nightmare claw. He must have used it to make the scratches on the posts in the Great Hall as well as tear the tapestries hanging there." Zenna piped up, standing beside Hiccup.

The two best friends were at the Haddock house with Stoick and Zenna's parents. When the two teens had said all that they had had to say, it was Henna and Edgar's turn to speak.

"I always knew that old coot was a wizened, conniving weasel…" Edgar muttered, gritting his teeth. "Edgar, not in front of the children!" Henna scolded him.

Stoick then looked at Hiccup and Zenna. "Well then let's go have a look at them." He said seriously.

Both Dragon Trainers looked at each other, nervous all of a sudden.

"Um, well Chief there's…" Zenna trailed off in mid-sentence and looked at Hiccup for guidance. "Yeah. Ah. There's gonna be a problem with that. We saw him throw them into the ocean." Hiccup admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Stoick sighed and placed his hands on the duo's shoulders. "I know you and Zenna are upset about the dragons, son, but you're gonna need evidence to accuse a man of high treason." He said to Hiccup. Turning to Zenna, Stoick asked her, "You understand this as well, don't you?"

Zenna merely shook Stoick's hand off and ran out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

"Oh dear…" Henna sighed, wistfully looking at the door. "She's really upset now…Last night, she cried herself to sleep…Henna and I've tried to cheer her up but…Oh gods, it's almost like Elias all over again…" Edgar sighed miserably.

Hiccup looked at his father, who nodded, before going out the door.

Zenna had run all the way to the Cove. She angrily took out her battle sticks and began to practice her moves, cursing under her breath with every jab at the air.

"Stupid…!"

_JAB_

"Fudging…!"

_JAB_

"Mildew!"

_JAB_

"Why…do…the…gods…hate…ME?!"

When she had decided that enough was enough, Zenna tossed her sticks to the ground and lied down on her back. Taking deep breaths, Zenna willed herself to calm down. But honestly, she couldn't. Without Stryka…it was like she'd lost half of herself. Stryka completed her. Now that she wasn't with her…Zenna didn't know what to do.

"Zen?"

Zenna then heard the familiar squeaking of Hiccup's prosthetic as he made his way into the Cove. The one eyed girl just stayed down so Hiccup decided to lie down next to her. A few minutes of complete silence passed before the two best friends decided to talk.

"You okay?" Hiccup asked softly. "Yeah, I'm fine." Zenna mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

But even without looking carefully, Hiccup knew that Zenna was far from okay.

"We'll find a way to get our dragons back, Zen." He told her reassuringly. Zenna looked at him. "I know we will, Hicc. You don't have to tell me that." She said, slightly moody.

"Well I have to. You're acting depressed again." Hiccup pointed out. "I'm not depressed." Zenna said defensively, already feeling tears welling up in her eye.

Hiccup saw the tears beginning to pool in Zenna's violet eye and sighed. He moved a little bit closer to Zenna and gently wrapped his arms around her. Zenna was slightly unnerved at this, but then realized that no matter how well she feigned emotion, Hiccup could see right through her. She allowed herself to cry into Hiccup's chest, her sobs coming out like small hiccups from her throat.

"It's okay, Zen…Just let it out…That's it…" Hiccup murmured soothingly, lightly rubbing circles on Zenna's back as she cried.

"I…mi-miss Stryka…I miss…the d-dragons!" Zenna hiccupped out. "I know…I know…Me too…" Hiccup whispered as he embraced her.

By the time Zenna had calmed down, it was almost sunset. Feeling a bit better, Zenna got up and washed her face in the Cove's pond. Then, she and Hiccup walked back to the village.

"Don't tell the others about my breakdown, alright?" Zenna reminded Hiccup. "Wouldn't dream of it." The auburn headed teen smiled at her. "Dang, even when I hide my feelings very well, you always see right through me." Zenna shook her head, both in amazement and in disbelief. "I guess all these years being together as friends taught me how to read you like an open book." Hiccup lightly laughed.

At that moment, Astrid came over to them. "I was wondering where you two were. Did anything happen?" she asked curiously. "Not a thing." Zenna quickly shook her head. Astrid gave Hiccup a skeptical look. "Astrid, I assure you that nothing, absolutely _nothing_, happened." Hiccup said in agreement to Zenna's statement.

"Oh! Gotta go, Mom and Dad probably need help with dinner. Later!" Zenna said, upon seeing that the sun was setting, and quickly left.

Alone, Hiccup and Astrid decided to walk around the village. All the while, Astrid was giving Hiccup a suspicious look. Finally, Hiccup decided to figure out what was wrong with her.

"Alright, Astrid. You've been looking at me funny ever since Zenna left. _What's wrong?_" the emerald eyed Viking teen asked. Astrid folded her arms across her chest and said nothing.

"_Astrid…_" Hiccup said somewhat pleadingly.

Sighing, Astrid blurted out, "Do you love her?"

_That _took Hiccup completely by surprise.

"D-do I love her…? Y-you mean Zenna? I…" he stuttered before realization hit him. Hiccup looked at Astrid in shock. Astrid realized that she had asked probably the stupidest and most offensive question she could have ever asked her boyfriend and blushed.

"I-I'm sorry…I-I didn't mean to sound…_jealous._" She mumbled, shuddering at the last word.

"I think I need to explain…" Hiccup admitted. Astrid cocked her head at Hiccup, confused. "I love Zenna, Astrid, I do. But not in the way you think. The reason why I'm being so…affectionate and protective of her is because that…" Hiccup said before Astrid interrupted.

"It's because she's your sister, I know. But honestly Hiccup…I'm kind of intrigued." Astrid told him. "Intrigued? Why?" Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

"Well it's just that…you and Zenna…you two have always stayed by each other's sides ever since you two first met. You two do almost everything together. And…when Elias died, you were always there for Zenna. You saved her from those thugs who were beating her up, prevented her from committing suicide when her depression hit its peak…You even temporarily moved in with her at Gothi's when she had to be put under close supervision shortly after that!" Astrid said, counting the events with her fingers.

"Wait, you _knew _about that last part? I thought only Dad, Gobber, Gothi and Zenna's parents knew about it…" Hiccup asked, mildly surprised.

"Somehow, one of the townspeople found out about it and the news spread like wildfire. That's when everyone began to assume that…_you loved Zenna_. And to be honest…that's what I thought too. I didn't really think of you that much before, Hiccup. But when I saw and heard about all those things you did for Zenna at that time…I realized that you were the kindest and most caring boy in the whole world. I thought that Zenna was pretty lucky to have someone like you…I guess even up till now, I still wondered about you two being a couple." Astrid confessed.

Hiccup remained silent for a few minutes in order to process all of this. The whole village knew about his fierce devotion to Zenna and everyone actually assumed that _she _was his girlfriend and not Astrid! Wow, this was a whole lot to take in…

"I know it was selfish of me as well as terrible to jump to such conclusions. Hiccup, I'm so, so sorry." Astrid told him, her beautiful blue eyes showing sheer regret. Hiccup sighed and decided to speak once more. "I understand. But it's just that…when I woke up from my coma all those months ago, Zen filled me in on everything I'd missed. She even included how you two talked at the Cove before throwing that big party in my honor…I was hoping that you'd understand her claim regarding our relationship. Unless…" he managed to say before something popped into his head.

Looking at Astrid, Hiccup asked her, "Did she tell you the reason why she didn't love me in a romantic sense?" Astrid nodded. "She told me that I was the only girl you would ever like." She shrugged. "She didn't say anything else?" Hiccup asked her curiously. "That's all she said. Was there another reason?" Astrid was now even more curious than ever. What else had she failed to see?

"There is. It happened shortly after Zen bounced back from her depression. We were talking about…well, our feelings for each other. And during that time, we realized that we didn't want to go into a relationship because…the two of us loved each other like brother and sister from the very start and we were afraid that…if we _did _go into a relationship and it didn't work out, we might not be friends anymore. Zenna and I knew this and we just…cared about each other too much to risk it." Hiccup confessed.

Now it was _Astrid's _turn to be surprised.

Hiccup's love for Zenna was rooted in their love for each other as family and family alone…

"And besides…like Zenna already told you, Astrid…_you're the only girl I'll ever love._ Nobody will ever replace you." Hiccup said softly, cupping Astrid's cheek in his hand before giving her a soft kiss on the lips.

Astrid was all the more surprised but smiled into the kiss. It was rare when Hiccup took charge with their kisses and she loved it when he did. Hiccup's lips meshed perfectly with hers and were so soft and tasted so sweet. When Hiccup prodded her lower lip with his tongue, Astrid gladly obliged in opening her mouth. Both lovers moaned as their kiss became more intense. Hiccup's left hand rested on the small of Astrid's back while his right was snaked around her waist. Astrid busied her hands in playing with Hiccup's russet locks.

If Zenna hadn't come a few minutes into their kiss…who knows what else could've happened.

"Whoa…Holy Shields…" Zenna muttered, her one violet eye widening in awe.

Hiccup and Astrid immediately sprang away from each other and looked sharply at her. But instead of acting mortified, Zenna giggled. "You two looked like you were having fun." She said with a mischievous wink.

"Never speak of this!" Hiccup and Astrid both exclaimed, their faces flushed red. "Knowing you two, I wouldn't want to." Zenna chuckled.

Then the three of them began to discuss their current situation regarding the dragons.

"Astrid, Zenna, we'll prove Mildew did it! We have to if we ever want to see our dragons again." Hiccup said grimly. "And we better do it fast. Without the dragons and the armory not yet fully stocked, Berk's vulnerable." Zenna added. "I just hope they're okay…" Astrid said, worried about Stormfly.

"I'm sure they're okay." Zenna said reassuringly before noticing Astrid standing on a cliff and looking at something not far out in the horizon.

"Why would one of our ships be anchoring there?" Astrid asked, pointing at a ship anchored near some rocks not far from shore. Hiccup and Zenna followed her gaze and spotted it. "That doesn't look like one of the ships from our fleet." Zenna observed. Hiccup looked through his spyglass and saw that the ship _definitely _wasn't a Berkian ship.

It was an _Outcast _ship.

"It's _not _one of our ships. I gotta tell Dad. Come on!" Hiccup said to the two girls and the trio quickly left to find Stoick.

That night, the Outcasts had landed on the beach.

"Ah, it's good to be back on the shores of Berk." Alvin said menacingly. "Good for you. Not so good for them." Savage chuckled darkly as the men readied their weapons.

Once all the Outcasts were armed, Alvin issued the call. "Let's find those Dragon Conquerors!" he barked. The Outcasts yelled in agreement.

Meanwhile in the Great Hall, the Berkians were worriedly murmuring to each other. Outcasts in Berk?! And no dragons! They were gonna be mincemeat for sure!

"This is no time to panic! That's what the Outcasts are counting on!" Stoick thundered in order to calm everyone down.

"Stoick!" Sven, a watch sentry, burst into the Great Hall with news. "Sven, did you get a good look?" the Chief questioned. "I saw 30 men at least, all armed to the teeth." Sven reported grimly.

"Without my weapons we'll never be able to fight them head on!" Gobber told the Chief miserably. "Then we'll have to either formulate a new battle strategy or flee!" Henna said worriedly.

"No weapons! And Outcasts on our shores! All thanks to your boy, his friend and their dragons." Mildew said melodramatically and pointed an accusatory finger at Hiccup and Zenna, who both just glared at him. Edgar clenched both hands into fists and prepared to march on over to Mildew and sock him good in the nose. Luckily Henna stopped him with a shake of her head and an arm on his shoulder.

"I don't have time for this right now, Mildew." Stoick glowered at the old man before turning to the rest of his men.

"Mulch! You and Bucket gather the elders and the children. Get them to Thor's Beach. They'll be safe in the caves there." He ordered.

Bucket and Mulch quickly followed Stoick's orders and began to herd the children and the elderly out of the Great Hall.

Astrid stepped up to Stoick. "We can help fight! We've been trained as warriors." She requested. Then Snotlout butted in. "She may have been trained, but I was _born _a warrior." He boasted.

Deciding to give the teens permission, Stoick took out a hatchet. "Take this." He said. Snotlout eagerly held out his hands to accept it. But to his dismay, the hatchet went to Astrid.

"It was Alvin's. But go with the others. You can help protect them." He told Astrid gravely. The Hofferson shield maiden nodded seriously and, with a sulking Snotlout, quickly left.

That's when Hiccup and Zenna decided that this was their chance.

"Let me and Zenna go get the dragons. At least if we have them, Dad, we can defend ourselves." Hiccup pleaded. "It's our only chance, sir. Please let us do this." Zenna asked earnestly.

Henna and Edgar looked at Stoick worriedly. The Chief was silent for a few minutes before finally sighing in defeat. "Go." He nodded.

"I'll be okay, Mom and Dad. Don't worry." Zenna said hurriedly as she and Hiccup began to leave.

"Please be careful, love." Henna said gently. "If those Outcasts try to attack you and Hiccup, give 'em a Fiersome greeting!" Edgar said encouragingly, making his wife frown and Zenna smile.

Just as Hiccup and Zenna were about to go out the doors, Stoick stopped them for a bit. "But be careful! You two don't know what Alvin is capable of." He told the two teens. Hiccup and Zenna looked back at him and they both nodded before leaving.

Stoick said a quick prayer to the gods for his son and his son's friend's safety before turning to Edgar, Henna, Gobber and some of his best warriors.

"The rest of you, we'll head to the woods. Nobody knows that forest like we do." He said seriously. "Quite right you are, Stoick!" Henna said in affirmation. "Those Outcasts won't know what'll hit them!" Edgar said, raring for a good fight. "And when Alvin comes looking for us there, he'll walk right into our trap!" Gobber said confidently as they left the Great Hall to execute their plan.

The fight was on between the Berkians and the Outcasts!

Meanwhile, Fishlegs was at the docks and looking up at the moon. And he was completely oblivious to the chaos that was about to erupt.

"Oh Meatlug, I miss you. The moon is full, my heart is empty…" he said poetically and then stopped abruptly. "What rhymes with '_empty_'?" he said thoughtfully.

"Don't waste your time! Nothing rhymes with empty!"

Fishlegs felt himself tense up and fearfully turned around. How he wished he hadn't. For right in front of him…was Alvin the Treacherous. Before the poor Ingerman boy could even squeak, Alvin roughly grabbed him and lifted him off the ground.

"Who're the Dragon Conquerors?" Alvin growled menacingly.

Already starting to freak out, Fishlegs did the one thing he could do at a terrifying situation like this.

_Scream._

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!"

Alvin and his men cringed. Odin, the boy sure can shriek! Annoyed, Alvin just tossed him into the water before ordering his men to keep searching for the Dragon Conquerors.

"Okay, we get a boat and paddle out to Dragon Island. But how are we going to do that without being caught?" Zenna questioned as she and Hiccup ran towards the docks, making sure to stay in the shadows.

Hiccup was about to reply and say that he wasn't exactly sure but that they'll figure something out when he heard footsteps and men talking.

'_Outcasts…I can't let them get Zen!_' he thought, his protective instincts kicking in. Quickly, Hiccup motioned for Zenna to stay quiet and led her to a nearby pier. Quiet as mice, the two of them got under just as a group of Outcast soldiers walked by wielding torches.

Once the Outcasts had left, both Hiccup and Zenna gratefully sighed of relief. Suddenly, the sound of someone whimpering whimpering directed their attention to behind them.

"Holy Shields…!" Zenna gasped in surprise at who was with her and her best human friend. "Ah! Fishlegs?!" Hiccup yelped in shock.

True enough, Fishlegs was with them.

"Alvin's looking for you two. He's looking for the Dragon Conquerors." Fishlegs said nervously from his hiding spot. "Wow, we've built up quite a reputation over just a couple of months haven't we Hiccup?" Zenna remarked before Hiccup quickly shushed her as Outcasts crossed their way.

"We need to make sure they don't get any leads on where everyone else is hiding." Zenna said urgently. "You mean _follow them_?" Fishlegs squeaked. "Yes." Hiccup and Zenna said at the same time and quickly got out of their hiding place. Fishlegs could only whimper fearfully as he followed the duo.

Alvin, Savage and the Outcasts wandered amongst the charred debris of what used to be the armory of Berk. "Looks like Stoick isn't as armed as we'd anticipated." Alvin chuckled, picking up poor Prudence. "From the looks of the armory, he's not armed at all." Savage snickered.

Then they approached the Haddock house. Alvin stepped forward and looked at the door skeptically. "Hmm…Should I knock? I mean, what's the etiquette in these situations?" he asked to nobody in particular before deciding to just kick the door clean away.

"I think that seems about right." He said nonchalantly as he and his men stepped inside. "Stoick! Show your face!" Alvin shouted. Complete silence just greeted the brute. Looking around, Alvin saw that the house was completely empty.

No sight of Stoick anywhere.

"The old coward's turned and run." Alvin muttered angrily. Then, an Outcast soldier ran up to him all breathless. "I spotted fresh tracks leading into the forest. And I heard reports of a big guy with a bucket on his head heading down to the beach." He reported hurriedly.

"Ehh, we'll split up. You four, go into the woods." Alvin said, waving off a group of his men. "Where are we going?" another soldier asked Alvin. "We'll go to the beach!" Alvin proclaimed as he and the other Outcasts left the house.

Unbeknownst to them, Hiccup, Zenna and Fishlegs were hiding nearby and had heard the whole thing.

"How many hostages do you think two dragon conquerors are worth?" Alvin asked Savage who gamely answered, "Seven? No, eight!"

"Great, if they get to Thor's Beach everyone's gonna be in trouble!" Zenna mumbled, worried about her parents.

"What do we do now?" Fishlegs asked Hiccup. "You and Zenna go to the woods and warn my father. I need to get ahead of Alvin and warn Mulch and the others." Hiccup told him and began to leave.

"I'm coming with you!" Zenna protested, readying her battle sticks. "Zen, it's too dangerous." Hiccup reasoned with her. "Hicc, I'm a _Fiersome_. I live for danger." Zenna retorted, confidently twirling her sticks. Hiccup could see that there was no sense arguing with her and sighed, allowing Zenna to come with him. But he made sure to hold Zenna's hand as they headed to Thor's Beach while Fishlegs left for the woods.

As they headed for the beach, Hiccup's grip on Zenna tightened. "Not so hard, man. My hand's getting crushed…" Zenna complained. Hiccup got the message and loosened his grip a bit. But he made sure to stay alert…and kept one hand on the hilt of his knife.

Outcasts or no Outcasts, Hiccup wasn't gonna let _anyone _hurt his sister.

In the woods, Stoick, Gobber, Zenna's parents and the adult warriors were readying their weapons and strategy.

"When they come looking for us in the forest they'll have to go through here." Gobber said, indicating the spot they were standing in right now. "Then let's ready our weapons!" Edgar shouted excitedly. "You are way too excited for fights sometimes, love…" Henna sighed, shaking her head.

"Alright. What do we have?" Stoick asked Gobber. Looking at their weapons, the adults frowned at the rather…limited selection.

"Two frying pans, a rolling pin, and a kitchen knife." Gobber counted the weapons. Henna and Edgar both gave the two-limbed blacksmith deadpan looks.

Stoick looked at Gobber with an obvious '_Are you serious, man?_' face. "And what are we going to do when we find Alvin? _Bake him a cake?_" he asked incredulously. "Eh, pie would be nice too. Who doesn't like pie?" Gobber whistled as he twirled the kitchen knife and aimed it at a nearby tree, causing it to split in half!

"That could be useful!" Gobber said helpfully as he and the adults stared at the tree. "We can make a trap!" Henna suggested. "Let's get to work then!" Edgar rubbed his hands eagerly.

Meanwhile high up the cliffs near the beach, Mulch was quickly guiding the villagers to Thor's Beach.

"Hurry now! The cave is just up ahead." He said as he herded the last of the villagers ahead. Then he realized that someone was missing.

"Where's Bucket?" he wondered out loud just as a little girl came up to him with her parents. "He went back to get my lamby." She told him in a sweet little voice.

Mulch put a hand to his head. "Oh for the love of…" he muttered before he took off to go find his friend. "Why am I always looking for Bucket? Hey, yeah, why can't he- Bucket? It's like trying to keep track of a half-wit pig." The farmer and fisherman Viking grumbled as he combed through the woods.

That's when Bucket appeared out of the brush with a stuffed lamb on his shoulder. Bucket didn't look hurt, much to Mulch's relief, but there was no denying the fact that he left his post.

"Ung, Bucket! You had one job: Bring up the rear." Mulch scolded him. "But the little girl! You should've seen the look on her face, big blue eyes with the tears welling up." Bucket told him, making sure the girl's lamby was still with him.

Mulch sighed. "Ugh, oh…your bucket's hard, but your heart is soft. Come on, come on." He just said to his friend and they started to head back. But suddenly, they were blocked by Outcast spears!

"Uh oh…" Mulch gulped as Alvin arrived with a wicked grin on his face. The Outcast leader looked at Bucket, who was clutching the stuffed lamb in fear, and smiled evilly. "You made it easy for us, Bucket. It's hard to miss a half-wit and his lamb." Alvin remarked.

Hiccup and Zenna had just arrived at the shortcut through the woods to the beach. When the first sound of footsteps reached Hiccup's ears, he quickly pulled Zenna behind him and they both hid behind a tree. Cautiously peeking out from behind, Hiccup saw Mulch and Bucket being marched at spear point by Alvin and his men!

"Keep moving!" the soldier in front commanded as he shoved Bucket forward.

"What do we do now?" Zenna whispered to Hiccup. The auburn headed teen thought for a few seconds before looking at Zenna. "We need to follow them. Just stay behind me, okay?" he told Zenna who nodded, "Okay."

Bravely, the two Dragon Trainers tailed the Outcasts deeper into the woods.

In another part of the forest, an Outcast soldier had spotted a Berkian and was giving chase.

"There he is! Get him!" the Outcast soldier shouted as he chased the Berkian through the woods.

And the Berkian was Gobber!

"All you lousy Outcasts, you'll never take me alive!" the blond mustached Viking yelled defiantly as he cleverly lured the Outcasts to the trap while the Outcasts shouted, "Come on, get him! You can't get away!"

When Gobber had reached the end of the line, he sighed and turned to face his pursuers. "Ugh. Looks like you got me, boys." he said, putting his hand and prosthetic up in defeat.

Just when the Outcasts thought that they had scored an easy victory, Stoick, Henna, Edgar and the other warriors came charging out of the brush with loud battle cries and took them all down in mere minutes!

"Or maybe it's _we _who've got _you_." Gobber said triumphantly as Henna and Edgar tied the Outcasts up with vines.

Suddenly, a rustle of leaves caught the adults' attention. "That way. Over there." Stoick said urgently as he led the adults (_and the captured Outcasts_) in pursuit. They saw a large, hulking figure run through the thicket. Stoick balled up his fists and jumped off the small gorge he was on and tackled the mysterious figure to the ground! Just as the Chief was about to land a punch, he heard a very familiar voice yell.

"Stoick! _No!_"

It was Fishlegs-_again._

Stoick took a second to check before glaring. "For the love of Thor, Fishlegs, I could have killed you!" he shouted exasperatedly as he helped Fishlegs up. "Thank you…_for not killing me._" The husky Ingerman boy said nervously.

"Fishlegs?" Henna and Edgar said in surprise as they stood by the Chief. "What are you doing here?" Stoick questioned Fishlegs. "Alvin the Treacherous grabbed me. He looked really treacherous." Fishlegs replied, still pretty rattled.

"Are you hurt?" Henna asked in concern to which Fishlegs shook his head. "That's good." Edgar sighed in relief.

Stoick then decided to cut in. "I know they're here, Fishlegs." He told the husky Ingerman who then said with even more urgency, "Yeah. They're here for Hiccup and Zenna."

_That _made Stoick, Edgar and Henna panic.

"Hiccup…" Stoick mumbled, paling. "Zenna…" Henna whispered fearfully. "Why would they want Hiccup and Zenna?" Edgar asked Fishlegs worriedly. "Hiccup and Zenna are the so-called '_Dragon Conquerors_', sir. Alvin's after them." Fishlegs explained.

The three parents looked at each other worriedly before quickly hustling to Thor's Beach. They had to get to the Outcasts before they got to their children!

Little did the adults know that they were already too late. Alvin had gotten ahead and now, all the people of Berk were being closely guarded by the Outcasts.

"For those of you who haven't figured it out…I am the one and only Alvin the Treacherous. And let me be clear-that name was earned!" Alvin said boastfully as he stood in front of the glaring Berkians.

The teens, however, weren't so worried. They knew that the Chief always had a plan _and _that Hiccup and Zenna were gonna get their dragons back so they could fight. This wasn't a problem to them at all!

"_Alvin? _Pft…How did he earn that?" Tuffnut jokingly asked, making Ruffnut snicker in agreement.

Alvin decided to ignore the teens and carried on saying, "Your leader has abandoned ya! But Stoick doesn't concern me. I'm not here for him. I want the Dragon Conquerors."

Mildew perked up at this announcement. Finally he could be rid of that pesky dragon loving duo! He smiled wickedly at Astrid. "Say goodbye to Hiccup and Zenna!" he told her and then shouted, "_Alvin!_"

Quick as a Night Fury, Astrid gave the old man a solid punch in the gut! Alvin turned to see the blonde shield maiden holding up the out cold coot.

"My grandfather's frail. He needs his nap." Astrid said innocently when Alvin sent her a questioning look. Deciding to ignore that, Alvin once again turned to the people of Berk.

"Well, like I said…tell me who the Dragon Conquerors are and you can all go free." He told them. Snotlout got his old bludgeon ready. "The conqueror? Come on! I'll show Alvin who's a conqueror." He said boastfully and, with the support of the Twins, climbed the rocks to face the brute.

But when Alvin turned around and Snotlout was now face-to-face with the big Viking, he shrank back in fear and even gave him his bludgeon! "For you, sir." He said nervously, causing Tuffnut to face palm and Ruffnut to give him a disappointed scowl.

Alvin chuckled in amusement. "Well, you'd better check your trousers, son. I think you've soiled yourself." He told Snotlout waving him off.

Astrid decided to end this madness and flung the hatchet Stoick gave her at the man's head. But to her frustration, Alvin saw it coming and caught it! The Berkians gasped in horror. What was going to happen to Astrid?!

"Will you look at that! My old hatchet! I was wondering when I'd get that back!" Alvin remarked as Astrid was brought over to him. The Outcast leader grinned maliciously at the blonde shield maiden, who just glared back in defiance.

"Trying to kill Alvin the Treacherous? Ooh Hoo! You're not as smart as you look…" saying this, Alvin circled around and grabbed Astrid's braid.

"…tell me, who're your Dragon Conquerors, eh? _Tell me! _" Alvin barked and gave Astrid's braid a sharp tug, making Astrid yelp in pain.

That's when the so-called Dragon Conquerors emerged.

"Leave her alone!" Hiccup said sharply as he popped up from behind a rock above Alvin and Astrid. "I'd listen to him if I were you!" Zenna added, popping up beside him with her battle sticks at the ready.

"Hiccup! Zenna! What are you two doing?" Astrid asked, terrified of what her two friends could be thinking.

Jumping down from the rocks and landing on their feet, Hiccup and Zenna looked at Alvin defiantly and both proclaimed, "_We're the Dragon Conquerors._"

Alvin and his men looked at the duo in shock for a few seconds before cracking up laughing. The Chief's runt and his female counterpart were the famed Dragon Conquerors?! Surely, the gods were messing with them!

"You? Stoick's little embarrassment and his little girl friend?" Alvin cackled, making Astrid and Zenna both turn red with rage. "First of all, Alvin: I am **not **having a relationship with my brother!" Zenna yelled at the brute of an Outcast, pointing one of her battle sticks at Alvin's face.

Luckily Hiccup calmed her down and gave Astrid a look that clearly said that he did _not _agree with Alvin's claim. Then he looked at Alvin seriously. "Zenna and I drove the dragons away from Berk. Look around. You don't see any on this island, do you?" he asked, gesturing to the general area. Astrid then caught on with Hiccup's plan and decided to go with it. "I-It's true! All the dragons are afraid of them. They even conquered two Night Furies!" she said quickly.

Alvin was now skeptical and looked down at Hiccup and Zenna. "You're bluffing." He accused them. "We never bluff." Zenna said, coolly glaring at him with her one violet eye. Hiccup also kept his cool. "Are we? Well, there's only one way to find out. Take us to Dragon Island." He said calmly.

That was the incentive Alvin needed. Ordering his men to march Hiccup and Zenna to his ship anchored at the shore of Thor's Beach. Astrid and the other Dragon Riders were held back by the guards and were frantically shouting at Hiccup and Zenna not to do it.

"We'll be fine!" "Don't worry!" Hiccup and Zenna both reassured them as they were shoved onto the deck. As the ship sailed away, Alvin barked to his men to keep a close eye on the duo.

Then, one Outcast soldier strolled over to Zenna and shoved Hiccup aside. "You're a fine jewel now, aren't you girl?" he said huskily and began to advance towards her. "Back off and keep your filthy hands away from me!" Zenna shrieked, trying to swat the Outcast away with her sticks. But the Outcast grabbed them and tossed them aside before touching Zenna's waist.

_That _was enough for Hiccup to take out his knife and charge screaming, "Get away from her!"

The Outcast turned around just in time to see Hiccup about to raise his knife. "Hiccup, no!" Zenna yelled and then, Alvin came in and intervened. "I told you to keep an eye on them! Not violate one of them! And as for you, boy, put that knife away or I'll use it on you!" the Outcast leader roared. The soldier gulped and quickly walked away while Hiccup put his knife away.

And then Hiccup fixed his hard glare at all of the Outcasts. "I'll behave…But remember this: Try to harm Zenna and I will slit all of your throats." He threatened coldly. Zenna stared wide-eyed while all the Outcasts slightly shuddered at the boy's looming threat.

Alvin looked unfazed. "Suit yourself." He huffed and left to man the ship while Hiccup and Zenna were blocked off by a couple of, thankfully, more obedient and well-behaved Outcasts. As they sailed on, Zenna kept looking at Hiccup with a shocked expression. Hiccup sighed and looked away, feeling ashamed that he had shown such a violent, sadistic side of himself. It wasn't him at all. It was just that…he hated Zenna getting hurt and didn't want anything to happen to her. As Hiccup entertained these thoughts in his head, Zenna managed to scoot closer to him. Some things had to be said…

"You meant that?" she whispered, causing Hiccup to look at her in confusion. "About…killing all these Outcasts if they tried to hurt me?" Zenna asked curiously. Hiccup blushed and said, "Zen, you know I can barely hold my own in a fight…But yeah, I'm pretty sure that I'd suddenly have the strength to destroy anyone if they ever tried to hurt you." With a slight nod, making Zenna smile a bit.

Zenna gently took Hiccup's hand in her own and squeezed it. "Hiccup, you sure know how to amaze me." She complimented, making Hiccup blush even more. "_Okay?_" Hiccup whispered to her. "_Okay._" Zenna whispered back. Now, both friends could only watch the sun rise from the horizon as the Outcasts took them to Dragon Island.

Meanwhile back on Berk, the Outcasts did not expect the adults to suddenly come out of nowhere and attack! Roaring fierce battle cries, Henna and Edgar mowed down an entire group of them with their South fighting skills while Gobber clobbered them with his hammer hand. In no time, the Outcasts were defeated and trussed up, much to the jubilation of the villagers.

"Where's Alvin?!" Stoick growled as he held an Outcast by the front of his tunic. The Outcast soldier merely spat in the Chief's face, angering Stoick even more.

Just as Stoick was about to give the brute a punch, Astrid came with a panicked look on her face. "Alvin took Hiccup and Zenna." She alerted them.

"_What?!_" Stoick, Henna and Edgar shouted in alarm. "They gave themselves up. They're on their way to Dragon Island." Astrid told them.

Stoick, Henna, Edgar and Gobber all looked at each other and nodded. They needed to get going-_fast!_

As he and his men kept going, Alvin tried to start up a conversation with his prisoners.

"I'm sure your father and your Chief's told you plenty about your island's most feared enemy." He said gloatingly. "Wh-who's that? Oh, right, uh, you. No. Not so much." Hiccup replied. "I didn't even know about you Outcasts until today." Zenna said nonchalantly.

Alvin was dumbstruck. "Really? Not a word?" he asked in shock.

"Nope." Hiccup and Zenna both replied.

"Nothing?"

"Nuh uh."

"Nothing about Alvin?" Alvin asked again. "_Nope._" Hiccup and Zenna told him with not so much as a hint of fear in both of their voices, causing Alvin to growl angrily.

"Look, '_Al_'…All Zenna and I care about is that if we do what you say, you will leave the people of Berk in peace." Hiccup said calmly. Alvin decided to humor the boy and smiled. "On me word, son." He said sincerely. "Word of a Treacherous, it's never trustworthy." Zenna remarked. "Smart friend you've got there, boy." Alvin chuckled before leaving the two alone.

"Just a little longer and we'll see our dragons again, Zen." Hiccup whispered to the young girl beside him, who silently nodded.

Meanwhile, Stoick had gotten a ship from his army ready and with the rest of the Dragon Riders, Gobber and Zenna's parents sailed in pursuit of the Outcasts.

"When we get there, we'll lay down cover fire with these catapults. Astrid, you get your dragons." He ordered Astrid, who nodded. "No! Save your cover fire for the others, sir. I can handle myself." Snotlout said reassuringly as he leaned against a catapult, accidentally firing off one round.

"Snotlout Jorgenson, you are officially a first-class buffoon." Edgar sighed. "For once, I offer no retort to that." Henna sighed as well.

"I'll fire extra rounds to cover that one." Gobber told his old friend, giving Snotlout a deliberate glance while his friends also glared at him.

"Sir, we'd like to personally volunteer _to kick Alvin's butt._" Tuffnut stepped forward, smashing his fist against his palm to emphasize his eagerness along with his twin. "This _isn't _about Alvin. It's about Hiccup and Zenna. We're here to bring them home." Stoick said seriously.

"Still, I will make sure that Treacherous will pay for taking my precious daughter." Edgar said with a determined look on his face. "So will I, love. That Alvin is going to pay dearly." Henna nodded in agreement. But for now, they had to focus on reaching Dragon Island.

On Dragon Island, Alvin, the Outcasts, Hiccup and Zenna were now trekking through the rocky terrain. To make the duo hurry up, Alvin pushed them with the flat edge of his sword.

"Hey, is the sword really necessary?" "Gentlemen are so hard to find nowadays." Hiccup and Zenna both complained before two familiar sounds reached their ears.

"_Odin's ghost…_" Alvin gasped as Toothless and Stryka emerged from the rocks, much to Hiccup and Zenna's relief. Their dragons were still okay!

"Are those…?" Alvin breathed out before Hiccup and Zenna cut him off. "Night Furies! The unholy offsprings of lightning and death itself!" both teens said excitedly.

When the Outcasts began to raise their crossbows, Hiccup and Zenna quickly turned to them and held their hands out. "Ah, stop! It will only make them angrier! Watch and learn." Hiccup cautioned them. "Put the crossbows down and let us handle this." Zenna added as she and Hiccup walked over to Toothless and Stryka.

"By all means, proceed…I hope you're not squeamish. You're about to see two dragons eat a boy and a girl." Alvin chuckled darkly to his men, who all laughed evilly.

Hiccup and Zenna hid their smiles from the Outcasts until they were tackled by their dragons, making the Outcasts gasp in horror. Unbeknownst to them, Toothless and Stryka were licking instead of eating the two teens!

"I missed you too…w-we'll catch up later…" Hiccup softly laughed as Toothless licked him. "Good to see you too, girl…But let's save the reunion for when we get home…" Zenna giggled as Stryka warbled at her happily.

"…Right now, _follow our lead._" Both teens murmured before leading their dragons over to the spot where they left the saddles.

"You cannot defeat me! You dirty dragon!" "You dare challenge me, mighty beast?! I'd like to see you try!" Hiccup and Zenna both fake taunted their dragons, who both pretended to growl until they reached the saddles.

Making Toothless and Stryka extend their wings for cover, Hiccup and Zenna quickly put the saddles on their two Night Furies while proclaiming, "We are the Dragon Conquerors!"

Alvin was now watching the two with contempt. What was taking so long for the two to conquer those Night Furies?

"Hey, what are you two doing with those dragons?!" he yelled, just as Hiccup clicked his prosthetic into place.

"You kind of have the wrong title for us, Al!" Zenna called out as she and Stryka faced the Outcasts with Hiccup and Toothless.

"By the way, it's not really '_Dragon Conquerors_'…" Hiccup began before looking at Zenna and nodded. "It's Dragon _Trainers._" They both said before looking at Toothless and Stryka and whispered, "Now!"

Lifting off the ground, the four friends flew past Alvin and soared higher up into the air! Alvin and the Outcasts were all struck down in awe.

"Great Thunder of Thor! They _are _the Dragon Conquerors! Fire!" Alvin barked to his men, who all began shooting arrows from their crossbows at the flying friends!

"Look out!" "Incoming!" Hiccup and Zenna yelled as Toothless and Stryka dodged. "What are you waiting for? Shoot them down!" Alvin yelled as his men shouted, "There they are! Now we've got them!" and kept on firing arrows.

"_Fire!_"

Three arrows came flying towards Hiccup and Zenna and were about to hit them when…_bam!_

Astrid riding Stormfly flew into the fray, accompanied by the rest of the Dragon Riders! "Oh, what took you so long?" Hiccup asked nonchalantly but nonetheless, happy to see his girlfriend. "Why, did you and Zenna miss me?" Astrid smiled. "Girl, you have no idea." Zenna laughed before hearing Fishlegs shout, "Hiccup! Zenna!" and she and Hiccup dodged another onslaught of arrows in the nick of time.

"We've gotta get in closer!" Hiccup commanded his friends and they began to target the Outcast ship as the Berkian ship came. Stoick stood at the helm and turned to his men. "Aim for their catapults! If we knock them out, the dragons can finish off the ship! Fire!" he yelled. Gobber, Henna and Edgar quickly loaded the catapults and fired at the Outcast ship.

Alvin quickly leaped onto his ship. "Move offshore!" he barked to his men and they began to paddle the ship away.

"They're trying to get away!" Zenna told Hiccup. "Here's our chance! Come on!" Hiccup yelled to his friends. Swooping down, the Dragon Riders and their dragons prepared to open fire. Fed up with all this, Alvin growled at one soldier, "Oh, shoot that dragon down! Fire!"

Taking aim at Stormfly, the Outcast fired the arrow! Stormfly squawked and did a barrel roll, unintentionally throwing Astrid off her back! Screaming, Astrid hit a rope, landed on deck with a crate falling over her!

"_Astrid!_" Hiccup cried out in alarm, he and Toothless circling around to find a way to rescue her. Astrid pushed the crate covering her over and ran to the deck. "_Hiccup!_" she yelled, waving her arms frantically before she screamed as Alvin got her by the arm!

"Welcome aboard, Astrid. _Don't miss this time!_" Alvin snarled. More arrows were fired along with catapult rounds but Hiccup knew that they couldn't attack the Outcasts with Astrid aboard their ship! "Look out!" he yelped as he and his friends dodged attacks left and right.

"Hold your fire! He's got Astrid!" Hiccup cautioned his friends. That's when Hookfang fired out a blast, hitting the water near the ship!

"You idiotic numbskull!" Zenna yelled angrily. "What are you doing?!" Hiccup shouted at his cousin. "I heard you say '_fire'_." Snotlout said in his and Hookfang's defense. "I said: Hold your fire!" Hiccup told him. "See?! You said it again!" Snotlout retorted, making Zenna groan in frustration.

"No, he's right!" Stoick yelled from his ship. "Thank you!" Snotlout said gratefully to the Chief.

But Stoick had a whole different idea from the Jorgenson boy's.

"Fire again, Hiccup and Zenna! _All of you!_" Stoick commanded. Hiccup looked confused until Zenna pointed at the water in front of the Outcast ship and mouthed to him, '_Steam cover._'

"Everyone! Fire into the water!" Hiccup yelled. Following their friend's orders, the Dragon Riders got their dragons to fire their flames into the water, generating a steam cloud and obscuring the Outcasts' view!

The Outcasts murmured worriedly amongst themselves. How were they supposed to attack now? On top of that, the dragons kept swooping and darting into the fog and they couldn't get a clear shot at any of them!

"Fire!" Alvin yelled. "At what?" One soldier asked in a panic. "_Everything!_" Alvin roared, losing his patience.

"Did you hear that? Oh, what's that?!" the Outcasts yelped as they saw a fearsome dragon head appear out of the fog. Alvin hurled his hatchet at it, only to realize that it was the Berkian ship's masthead before it rammed into his own ship! Astrid took this opportunity to escape. Luckily Hiccup was already waiting for her. "Astrid, hop on!" he said. Astrid didn't need to be told twice and quickly jumped up and Hiccup and Toothless grabbed her and flew to safety as Stoick jumped onboard along with Zenna's parents.

"You're a coward, taking my son." Stoick growled as he punched Alvin. Edgar and Henna landed two more punches to the guy's head. "Never take our daughter away ever again." Henna and Edgar said coldly. "I take what I want! You know that, Stoick!" Alvin snarled, shoving Zenna's parents away and engaging in one-on-one combat with Stoick. "Not this time…" Stoick growled as he and Alvin fought.

Edgar and Henna watched as the two Vikings grappled. When Alvin managed to knock Stoick down, both Fiersomes launched themselves at the Outcast and managed to distract him long enough for Stoick to recover and bind Alvin's hands with rope and send him into the ocean by securing it to the nearby masthead which Edgar and Henna knocked over.

Jumping back onto the Berkian ship, Stoick, Henna and Edgar looked up at the kids awaiting commands. "Now, Hiccup and Zenna! Burn the ship!" the three adults yelled. "There's our cue, Hicc!" Zenna alerted Hiccup who, in turn, commanded his friends, "Here we go guys! Hit 'em with everything you've got!"

"Open fire!" Zenna yelled and she and her friends blasted the ship with flames. Once they were sure that the Outcasts had no way to escape, the seven Dragon Riders and their dragons triumphantly returned to the ship.

"Zenna!" "Sweetheart!" Edgar and Henna yelled in relief, rushing to their daughter as she got off of Stryka and hugged her tight. "Good to see you too, Mom and Dad…" Zenna squeaked as she was squeezed. Stryka crooned, happy to have her Rider back, and joined in on the hug.

Stoick felt a huge weight let up from his shoulders as his son landed in front of him. "Hiccup, what were you and Zenna thinking?" he asked, still worried. Hiccup looked at Toothless and Zenna with Stryka and smiled with relief. "We were thinking…all we needed to do was to get to Toothless and Stryka. And together, we'd be able to make things right." He answered, making his father smile proudly.

As the victorious team of Berk sailed back home, Alvin and his men watched from the shores of Dragon Island. To the other Outcasts' confusion, Alvin began to laugh maniacally instead of getting furious over their defeat.

"They ride dragons! We get that boy and that girl, and _we'll _ride dragons!" Alvin cackled, his men following suit. They may have been defeated today…but they now knew their enemy's strength. And it wasn't going to take them long to find a weakness.

This was far from over…

Back on Berk, the villagers cheered as the small rescue party returned, along with all the dragons. Hiccup and Zenna smiled at their Night Furies as they flew overhead.

"Hear that bud? You're back home…" Hiccup told Toothless. The male Night Fury crooned happily to Stryka who warbled happily in return. "Home sweet home, Stryka. There's no place like home." Zenna cheerfully proclaimed.

Mildew, however, wasn't celebrating with the rest of the villagers.

"What are you cheering about? Don't you remember what these beasts have done?!" he scoffed as Stoick, Edgar and Henna along with their children came up to greet the people. "I do! They saved our lives." Stoick glared at the old man. "You ought to be grateful, Mildew." Henna said harshly. "If it hadn't been for the dragons, Berk would've been taken by the Outcasts." Edgar added, glaring at Mildew as he, his wife and the Chief left.

Hiccup and Zenna chose this opportunity to give Mildew a piece of each of their minds.

"And Zenna and I may not be able to prove what you've done. But we will never forget it." Hiccup warned Mildew. "We've got our eyes on you Mildew-all three of them." Zenna told the old coot, giving him the _I got my eye on you _gesture before she and Hiccup left to go celebrate with everyone else.

'_It's funny how an attack by your greatest enemy can change things overnight. Hiccup and I set out to prove that our dragons would never hurt us…what they proved, is that they will __always __protect us…_'

"You think those Outcasts will come back, Hicc?" Zenna asked her best human friend. Hiccup shrugged. "I don't know, Zen…But if they do, we've got the dragons, each other and we'll be ready for them." He replied, smiling. "Well said." Zenna smiled back.

Whatever enemy they faced, Hiccup and Zenna would always be ready along with their friends, Viking and dragon alike!

**Read and review. I promise the next chapter won't take too long next time ;)**


	8. How to Pick Your Dragon

**Hey guys ;)**

**I'm back with another update. Sorry if this chapter seems kind of lame. It was a bit of challenge writing this while handling crazy school stuff. Trust me, school is really giving me problems :p**

**Anyway, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own HTTYD**

**How to Pick Your Dragon**

'_Here on Berk we've always done things one way: the Viking way. Since the dragons came the Viking way has become, well, the hard way. Unfortunately some people like Hiccup's father still refuse to change…_

_As for my parents, let's just say that they and their dragon are…pretty eager to try the Dragon way…_'

A wrecked boat was being towed into the docks at Berk one gloomy overcast morning. Hiccup, Zenna, Toothless and Stryka were watching as Stoick, Hiccup's father and the Chief of Berk, helped pull the ship in along with Zenna's parents, Edgar and Henna. After some grunting and heaving, the boat was docked and moored.

"Another boat destroyed…" Henna sighed. "Another day of repairs…" Edgar sighed as well. "It's that rogue dragon again. That's the second boat this week he's destroyed." Gobber told Stoick as he inspected the torn fishing nets.

"Well, we lost another catch. We could have saved it if we'd gotten there sooner." Stoick said, wondering what to do with this dilemma.

That was Hiccup and Zenna's cue.

"Well Zenna and I know how you could have gotten there sooner." Hiccup piped up, walking over to his father with Zenna at his side. "Uh oh, brace yourself Stoick." Henna giggled, knowing how insistent Hiccup and her daughter were regarding any business involving dragons. "Here we go again." Stoick sighed, not really wanting to hear what his son and his best human friend had to say for the umpteenth time. "They'll never stop badgering you until you give in, Chief." Edgar chuckled in amusement.

Hiccup looked up at his father and said clearly, "If you'd flown there on a dragon you could have been there in five minutes instead of two hours. And you might even have been able to chase that rogue dragon away for good."

"It kills two birds with one stone, sir. Save the boat and chase away the dragon. It would've been a win-win situation if you had just gotten a dragon to give you a lift." Zenna chimed in politely.

"As the Chief of Berk I do things the Viking way. Not the Dragon way." Stoick said, adamantly refusing and carried on with helping Edgar in the repairs. Hiccup didn't give up. "Well the Viking way is costing us a lot of fish and also as many boats." The one legged Dragon Rider said in return. "If there's one thing all of Berk must learn, it's adapting to the times. We've got the dragons living amongst us now and we should use our peaceful coexistence with them to both of our advantages. We care for the dragons and they care for us." Zenna piped up cheerfully.

"I have to agree with my daughter and your son on this, Stoick. We are an island of Dragon Trainers and Dragon Riders. It only makes sense if our Chief is also one." Henna told Stoick. "Stoick the Vast, Dragon Chief of Berk. You have to admit, Stoick, it _does _have a nice ring to it." Edgar nodded in agreement.

Stoick still didn't look convinced. Gobber then decided to step in. "The boy and girl both have a point. If you were on a dragon you could protect this island from a lot of things. Even Alvin." Gobber told his old friend.

"Exactly!" Zenna said, agreeing to the two limbed Viking blacksmith. "Right! You-You could use a dragon to—" Hiccup managed to say before Stoick replied to Gobber, cutting him and Zenna off.

"You're right, Gobber. Alvin knows we have dragons. He'll be back." The Chief said seriously. "You saw what those dragons did. They had Alvin on the run. Imagine if _you _were the one commanding them." Gobber told Stoick, gesturing to Toothless and Stryka who warbled softly at the Chief.

Stoick looked at Gobber curiously. "I'm listening." He said as he began to leave the docks. "But clearly not to me." Hiccup said defeatedly. "Or me." Zenna rolled her eye, exasperated. Gobber's suggestion was exactly what she and Hiccup had been trying to suggest to Stoick earlier!

Henna and Edgar looked at each other and quietly laughed. It was sometimes comical to watch the children as they tried to convince the Chief to try something new.

Gobber carried on saying, "I can see it now. A proud Chief ruling his domain above aboard a fearsome fire-breathing reptile. Ooooh, it gives me goosebumps."

"That's what Zenna and I've been trying to—" Hiccup said before his father interrupted-again.

"Gobber's right." Stoick said in agreement. "This is like a throwback to the old days of one-sided conversations…" Zenna mumbled to Stryka and Toothless who both rumbled in agreement.

Stoick turned to his son with a serious look on his face. "I need to learn to fly? When do we start the lessons?" he asked. Hiccup rolled his eyes. "I don't know, shouldn't we ask Gobber?" he said, his voice laced with sarcasm.

Gobber shrugged. "Eh, I don't really have a preference, but sooner is always better. Don'tcha think?" he replied. Hiccup sighed and then looked at Zenna expectantly.

"Follow us, Chief. Dragon Riding 101 is about to begin." Zenna chuckled before Henna and Edgar's maroon Hideous Zippleback, Serpent and Serpentine, flew over to docks surprising the Fiersome family.

"Hey there, Serpent!" "Serpentine, hello!" Edgar and Henna laughed, rubbing their Zipplebacks heads. That's when Zenna noticed something significantly different about her parents' dragon.

"Holy Shields, they've gotten _big!_" she said, marveling Serpent and Serpentine's size. Then she looked at her parents and smiled. "You know Mom and Dad, I think it's high time that you learned how to ride your Zippleback." The 16 year old Fiersome suggested. Henna and Edgar looked at Serpent and Serpentine, who growled excitedly, then at each other before grinning.

"Flying on Serpent and Serpentine, that sounds like a lot of fun!" Edgar laughed. "And it's a perfect way for the three of us to bond together as a family! What a wonderful idea, Zenna!" Henna smiled.

Zenna looked at Gobber. "I better borrow some of Hiccup's plans for Zippleback saddles." The blond mustached Viking grinned and hobbled off to the forge. "I keep them in a shelf near the hammers!" Hiccup called out and then turned to his best human friend.

"So it looks like we'll _both _be teaching our parents how to fly, huh?" he asked, giving Zenna a coy grin. "Sure looks like it, Hicc." Zenna grinned back at him.

That afternoon, after having outfitted Serpent and Serpentine with new saddles, Hiccup and Zenna brought their parents over to a solitary sea stack. Stoick was to ride on Toothless with Hiccup behind him while Henna and Edgar rode on Serpent and Serpentine with Zenna and Stryka right beside them.

"Alright, I've made a new stirrup so you'll be able to control Toothless." Hiccup told his father, showing him the modified stirrup on the left side of Toothless' saddles.

"As for me, I gave the both of you belts with hooks that'll keep you guys attached to your Zippleback's backs should anything go amiss." Zenna told her parents, gesturing to the leather belts on their waists.

Stoick looked at Toothless with a serious face while Henna and Edgar looked at Serpent and Serpentine with smiles.

"You hear that? It's _me _that's supposed to be controlling _you_." Stoick told his son's Night Fury. Toothless just warbled in confusion. Serpent and Serpentine cooed as Henna and Edgar petted them. "We'll have a grand time flying, you two." Edgar grinned. "We'll do our best to be gentle, we promise." Henna told Serpentine gently.

"Looks like my Mom and Dad are done with the first step." Zenna grinned at Hiccup, who looked at his father a bit worried.

"Whoa, whoa, Dad, uh, before you get on a dragon you've got to show him he can trust you." Hiccup told Stoick. "He already trusts me. I'm his Chief!" Stoick replied proudly. Henna and Edgar were already climbing onto their dragon's back when the Chief said this and they, along with their daughter, were patiently waiting for father and son to finish the first step of the lesson.

"Uh, it's very simple. Just give me your hand." Hiccup said, extending his hand to his Dad. Stoick looked at his son strangely. "I didn't come here to hold hands, Hiccup." He said before Hiccup took his hand and guided it to Toothless' snout.

"It's okay, bud." Hiccup said soothingly to his Night Fury. Toothless curiously sniffed Stoick's palm before crooning and pushing his scaly black snout into the Chief's palm.

"You feel that?" Hiccup asked his Dad hopefully. Stoick was silent for a few seconds before remarking, "Yeah. Still dry and scaly." And pulled his hand away.

"Stoick, Stoick, Stoick…" Henna sighed, shaking her head. "He still sometimes ignores the little things." Edgar murmured to Zenna, who rolled her eye and lightly laughed.

"That's not what I meant." Hiccup mumbled, slightly disappointed that his father didn't feel the bond between Dragon and Rider like he and Zenna always do with Toothless and Stryka. "Can I get on him now?" Stoick asked, impatient.

Hiccup smiled knowingly and gestured to the saddle on Toothless' back. "Alright, let's get on with this madness." Stoick grumbled as he and his son got on the saddle. "We'll start out nice and slowly. Just give him a little nudge when you wanna—" Hiccup coached his Dad from behind.

"Uh, Hiccup, I don't think the nudge is a good idea…" Zenna cautioned but cautioned too late.

Stoick had already given Toothless a nudge-a _hard _one.

With a startled bark, Toothless shot up into the air like a rocket!

"I SAID _NUDGE!_" Hiccup yelled as he and his father soared up higher into the air. "That was my nudge!" Stoick yelled back in the midst of the roaring wind. Soon, father, son and dragon had disappeared into the clouds.

"Oh Thor's beard…" Edgar muttered. "This cannot end well…" Henna remarked. Serpent and Serpentine cooed in agreement, glad not to be in the Stryka's mate's position right now. Stryka crooned worriedly as she watched her mate go up, up, up into the air. Zenna bit her lip nervously. She prayed to the gods that her try on getting her parents to ride their dragon would be less risky.

"Okay…Mom, Dad…Remember, just take it nice and steady." She instructed. A little nervous, Henna and Edgar gently nudged Serpent and Serpentine to take off. The maroon Hideous Zippleback roared in excitement and took off into the sky. Stryka and Zenna quickly lifted off as well.

"Hey, this isn't so bad…" Henna said, a bit calm now compared to earlier. "This is rather nice!" Edgar laughed before he and his wife decided to throw caution to the wind along with their dragon.

"Faster, Serpent!" "Onward, Serpentine!" Roaring with delight, Zenna's parents' dragon sped up, leaving Zenna and Stryka behind!

"Oh Odin's eye…! Mom! Dad! Not too fast, wait!" Zenna yelped as she urged Stryka to keep up. When she had signed up to be her mother and father's Dragon Riding instructor, she hadn't expected her parents to be _that _gung ho about it! Oh Thor, bless her and Stryka's souls…

"Just remember, the tail controls everything." Hiccup coached his Dad from behind. "I know that." Stoick said as-a-matter-of-factly. Toothless rumbled worriedly as he saw an incoming rock. If the Chief knew, why wasn't he operating his tail fin?!

"Then why are you heading for that rock?" Hiccup asked his Dad, seeing the rock too. "Because you're distracting me." Stoick snapped at him. Toothless let out a warning call now. They were getting closer! "Just let out the—" Hiccup began to panic before Stoick bellowed, "TAIL! I KNOW!" and opened Toothless' tail fin. The Night Fury quickly avoided the rock, much to Hiccup's relief.

Now they had to maneuver around some sea stacks!

"Left. LEFT! No, no, the _other _left!" Hiccup yelped as Stoick accidentally got Toothless into a spin. "Dragon's fault." Stoick said defensively before Toothless accidentally flew into another sea stack. "You gonna blame that on the dragon too, Dad?" Hiccup asked rhetorically. "Yep." Stoick said simply before launching Toothless into breakneck speed mode again.

"SLOW DOWN!" Hiccup yelled in alarm as they began to dive towards the ocean. "I'm trying." Stoick grunted. The Chief quickly urged Toothless to pull up seconds before they hit the water! Stoick was beginning to feel thrilled. This Dragon Riding wasn't half bad!

"See?" he said confidently to his son. "Actually no. No, I had my eyes closed." Hiccup moaned, feeling like he was about to throw up from this dizzying flight.

And just when he thought things couldn't get even more dangerous, Hiccup saw that Toothless was headed for the ground way too fast!

"You're coming in too hard! Open the tail, with your foot." He quickly instructed his father. "I'm opening the tail." Stoick told him, pressing hard on what he _thought _was the stirrup to open the tail fin.

"That's my _leg_, Dad!" Hiccup corrected him just as the three of them walloped into the ground. Father and son grunted as they were thrown off of Toothless' back and landed on the ground with three loud '_thuds!_'

Recovering from the fall, Hiccup looked up to see Toothless staggering over to him. The Night Fury warbled weakly still reeling from having to bear Hiccup's father's weight on him, which didn't exactly help with flying earlier.

"I am so sorry…" Hiccup whispered to his best dragon friend. Toothless rumbled, still feeling some discomfort but forgave his Rider.

At that moment, Edgar and Henna arrived on Serpent and Serpentine. The maroon Hideous Zippleback looked just as gleeful as its Riders, who were both grinning madly. Zenna and Stryka were the last ones to arrive, both of them looking extremely winded.

"Finally…caught up…with you guys…!" Zenna breathed out. Stryka was panting heavily, exhausted from having to fly at top speed to catch up with Zenna's parents and their dragon. Toothless warbled gently and nuzzled his mate lovingly as Zenna hopped off of her back and raced over to her parents.

"Are you two okay?! Anything broken or burnt?! Is your dragon alright?!" Zenna asked hurriedly, frantically examining her parents and their Zippleback for injuries.

"All four of us are fine, love. And you and Hiccup were right-Dragon Riding _is _the thrill of a lifetime!" Henna laughed, still hopped up from adrenaline. "The two of us along with Serpent and Serpentine were having the time of our lives!" Edgar chuckled heartily, both heads of his and his wife's Zippleback hissing happily in agreement.

Zenna was momentarily stunned at how hyped up her parents were about Dragon Riding and just stared at them in disbelief before smiling. "And here I thought I was going to have to pull out all the stops just to get you two on Serpent and Serpentine…" she said and glanced at Hiccup.

"How'd your lesson with your Dad go?" she asked and then noticed Stoick staggering to his feet in a daze as well as Hiccup's freaked out and hopeless expression. "Yeah…forget I asked." Zenna deadpanned.

Stoick took a minute to recover from his fall before huffing off. "Dad, wait. Where are you going?" Hiccup asked as his father stomped off. "Nah, I'm done with this Hiccup. I've got a village to look after." Stoick said flatly as he walked away to find a way back to Berk.

But when he came to a cliff wall and saw that there was only one way to get back to the village, Stoick sighed and turned to his son.

"I'll need a ride home." He told Hiccup, who smiled. "Back on the saddles, Mom and Dad!" Zenna called to her parents who were petting Serpent and Serpentine down on the ground. Henna and Edgar both grinned and got back on Serpent and Serpentine.

"But wait for me and Stryka to…" Zenna managed to say before her parents took off, whooping in excitement. Stryka groaned at the thought of having to play catch up again along with her Rider.

"Holy Shields, I swear Stryka and I are gonna wear ourselves out…" Zenna muttered, getting back on Stryka. "We'll leave you three Haddocks alone for your…little bonding flight. Right now, I've got two hyperactive parents and an equally hyperactive Zippleback to chase. See 'ya!" the one eyed girl saluted and headed up into the air on Stryka.

Once Zenna was gone, Hiccup and Stoick got back on Toothless and soared into the sky. Stoick was hoping that Hiccup and Toothless would just zip back to Berk. Instead, they decided to go somewhere else entirely.

"This isn't the way home." Stoick told his son grumpily as he noticed the unfamiliar terrain. "Just sit back and enjoy the ride. _We are taking the scenic route._" Hiccup announced as Toothless did a few corkscrews. "Right now, my lunch is taking the scenic route into my throat!" Stoick complained, his stomach lurching slightly.

As they flew over a grazing field, Hiccup tried to convince his father about Dragon Riding again.

"Dad, just think about how much easier your chiefing can be on the back of a dragon." Hiccup politely insisted. "Well, I prefer to be down on the—Wait. What's going on over there?" Stoick said before directing his stern gaze towards a bunch of yaks lying sideways on the grass.

"Some genius has been yak-tipping again." Stoick grumbled as Hiccup got Toothless to fly down in order to get a closer look. Seeing two familiar Viking teens running and taking cover behind a cart, Toothless smirked and fired a plasma blast. The blast obliterated the cart, leaving Ruffnut and Tuffnut exposed in the field.

"Be quiet. Maybe they don't see us." Tuffnut whispered to his twin sister. But Stoick, Hiccup and Toothless could see them.

And Stoick wasn't happy.

"Make that _geniuses_. I want every one of those yaks back on its feet!" Stoick muttered before growling the last sentence angrily at the Thorston Twins, who both sighed and got to work putting the yaks back on their feet.

"Nice chiefing, Dad. Let's see what else we can get done today." Hiccup grinned at his father and spotted a small group of wild boars munching on some cabbages on one of the fields. "Toothless, fire!" Hiccup shouted. Following his best friend's command, Toothless shot out a plasma blast and scared the boars off.

Stoick was impressed. "Fire again, dragon." He ordered. "Dad, the boars are gone." Hiccup told him, arching an eyebrow at him. "Who cares? I like the sound it makes." Stoick said dismissively, much to his son's amusement.

Hiccup smiled at his best dragon friend, who looked pretty pleased with himself as well. "Take us up, bud." Hiccup told Toothless before looking at his Dad. "There's something else I want you to see." He told him before Toothless spiraled up higher into the clouds.

Stoick's mouth dropped open in amazement at what he saw high up in the heavens. Meteors flew overhead in the sky and the clouds were turning all beautiful shades of pink, orange and light violet as the sun set. Then Stoick feasted his eyes on the dragon's eye view of Berk.

"Whoa…I've spent my whole life on Berk. Climbed its hills, explored its forests, swam its waters. I've travelled every inch, but I never thought I'd see it like this." The great Chief said in awe. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Hiccup asked him, admiring the view as well.

"No, it's more than that Hiccup. Look at them. All of my people. Everyone is safe. It's a good feeling." Stoick told him, gesturing to the island down below. Hiccup smiled, glad to have shared this with his Dad and Toothless.

'_Operation: Get Dad to Ride a Dragon is a success! I wonder how Zen's doing…_' Hiccup thought as he, Toothless and his Dad enjoyed their flight.

"Good gods…where are they…?" Zenna moaned as Stryka circled the air several times. It's been an hour ever since the two had lost Henna, Edgar, Serpent and Serpentine in the sky and Zenna and Stryka were getting worried. Stryka roared for the maroon Zippleback, only to get no response.

Just when she was about to lose hope, Zenna caught sight of her parents flying towards her and Stryka. Henna and Edgar looked extremely happy along with their dragon and, much to Zenna and Stryka's relief, were not injured.

"Where have you guys been? Stryka and I've searched high and low!" Zenna said in a relieved tone. "Taking in the sights of Berk from dragonback!" Edgar smiled at her. "And your father and I must tell you, love, Berk is so much more breathtaking from up above!" Henna grinned. Zenna couldn't stay cross upon seeing how happy her parents were and neither could Stryka when the one eyed dragoness saw how happy Serpent and Serpentine were as well.

"I'm glad you two enjoyed your first flight. But I think it's time we head home. We can go flying again tomorrow." Zenna told her parents, who agreed with her. As the sun set, the Fiersome family happily flew back home.

The next day, Toothless was up early and was now flying over Berk. But his Rider, was _not _who you expected to be.

Hiccup yawned and sat up on his bed, waking up, and saw that Toothless' rock slab bed empty.

"Toothless?" the emerald eyed Viking teen called out. Getting out of bed, Hiccup curiously looked around for his dragon. "Toothless?" Hiccup called out again. When he got no reply, Hiccup decided to go outside to search some more.

But when he stepped out his door, Hiccup was greeted by a surprising sight.

Namely, _his father riding his Night Fury!_

"DAD?!" Hiccup exclaimed in shock as he watched his father clumsily fly Toothless around. While Stoick was having a blast, Toothless…wasn't exactly enjoying being ridden by Hiccup's extremely heavy father. The flying duo flew overhead the teens' houses, catching Astrid and Fishlegs' attention as they carried buckets of water to their houses.

"Was that…?" Astrid said in surprise. "Unexpected? Disturbing?" Fishlegs asked her, stunned as well. "Yep." Astrid nodded.

Meanwhile Henna and Edgar were feeding Serpent and Serpentine at the stable when Zenna stuck her head out of her room's window with Stryka to check the weather. When she saw the Chief riding her best human friend's dragon, Zenna called her parents' attention.

"Mom! Dad! I think my eye's starting to play tricks on me!" the one eyed 16 year old girl exclaimed, looking pretty freaked out. Stryka warbled worriedly to her mate who roared a '_help me!_' roar before flying away. Serpent and Serpentine cooed curiously at the strange sight of the Chief riding Stryka's mate along with Henna and Edgar.

Looking up and seeing how shocked Zenna was, Henna and Edgar chuckled. "Your eye's doing fine, love!" Edgar hollered up to her. "I see Stoick riding on Toothless!" Zenna shot back in defense. "You're not the only one seeing it, Zenna dear!" Henna calmed her down.

Meanwhile Stoick finally made Toothless land in front of his house, much to Toothless' relief and Hiccup's as well.

"Uh Dad, what are you doing?" Hiccup asked, still feeling stunned from the spectacle he had just seen. "Kicking butt and taking names, that's what!" Stoick grinned at him. Hiccup glanced at Toothless, who was panting heavily, and looked at his father in confusion. "Uh, on Toothless?" the auburn headed boy asked uncertainly. "Oh, we've been all over Berk. Chiefing has never been so easy." Stoick told him.

"Yeah, but Dad, uh, Toothless is _my _dragon." Hiccup said in protest. "You picked a good one." Stoick chuckled, patting his son on the back. He then carried on saying, "Just came in to grab my hatchet. We're helping Jorgenson break down a fence." Hiccup figured that he was gonna have to be straight with his father. "Yeah that's, that's great but you need to understand that Toothless is—" Hiccup stuttered.

"Oh, you're right. I don't need my hatchet. Toothless can just blow that fence down with a fireball. Ha, ha!" Stoick suddenly laughed. Before Hiccup could get in another word edgewise, Stoick jumped onto Toothless' back.

"Don't worry, bud. I can fix this." Hiccup whispered to his distressed dragon. With a laugh, Stoick nudged Toothless into take off and they headed out!

"See ya later, Toothless. I really hope…" Hiccup mumbled as Zenna arrived with Stryka. Zenna's female Night Fury warbled softly, feeling worried for her mate. "I take that you're starting to regret the whole dragon riding thing being good for your father now, aren't you?" Zenna asked her best human friend. Hiccup sighed and looked at Zenna's battle sticks, which were as always strapped to her back.

"Can you please take out one of your sticks and bash me in the head, Zen?" he requested. Zenna grinned playfully and gently gave Hiccup a slight tap on the head with her stick. "Thanks." Hiccup smiled slightly. "Don't worry, they'll come back eventually." Zenna reassured him.

Stoick laughed heartily as Toothless sped across the skies. Chiefing had never been this easy or this fun! Why in just one day, he and Toothless had accomplished so much. They'd driven off some more wild boars at the fields and had helped Sven when a bunch of barrels had rolled off his cart when it broke.

"Thank you, Stoick!" Sven called out to his Chief. "Well done!" Stoick praised Toothless as they continued to fly over Berk. Toothless was happy to be of service to his Rider's father…but honestly, the poor Night Fury was hoping he could have a break soon!

"Come on, Toothless! _Faster!_" Stoick urged the Night Fury as they brought in another haul of fish for the village food supply. "Attaboy!" Stoick laughed as he landed Toothless near the Haddock house.

And it was already sunset, mind you.

"Same time tomorrow, Toothless?" Stoick asked the dragon, who merely rumbled tiredly.

Hiccup, Astrid and Zenna were busy watching them from outside. Stryka had gone off with the other dragons for a little relaxing flight, even though she was still worried about her mate.

"See that? That's what it looks like to be ridden all day by a four-hundred pound man." Hiccup told the two girls. "Poor Toothless…Squished to a black pulp by your overweight Dad…" Zenna remarked, pitying Hiccup's male Night Fury. "At least you got your Dad on a dragon." Astrid told her boyfriend as the three of them decided to take a walk.

"Yeah, now I just need to figure out how to get him _off _one." Hiccup replied. "Why don't you just give him the old '_Honey and The Hatchet_'?" Astrid suggested, earning a confused look from Hiccup and a knowing smile from Zenna.

"You know, you tell him something he wants to hear, that's the _Honey _part." Astrid said before giving Hiccup a hard punch to the arm and continued with, "Before you hit him in the head with something he doesn't. You know, '_The Hatchet_'!"

"Why does your advice always involve weapons?" Hiccup asked Astrid, who merely smiled at him. "She's _Astrid Hofferson_, Hicc. Weapons are her signature pieces of advice." Zenna told him. "Every Hofferson's gotta include weapons in any advice they give. It's a family thing." Astrid informed the two best friends.

Hiccup looked thoughtful for a couple of minutes. Then he nodded to Astrid. "Okay, I guess I'll give your Honey and Hatchet idea, Astrid." He said. "Hope it works." Astrid smiled before giving the boy a quick peck on the cheek and left.

"Hiccup, are you even breathing?" Zenna asked, seeing how Hiccup had seemed to have frozen in place when Astrid had kissed him. Hiccup looked spaced out and didn't respond. Finally, Zenna got her battle sticks out and lightly bonked him on the head.

"Ow! Oh yeah…! Gotta go Zen! See you tomorrow!" the one-legged boy said quickly and left for home. "Okay, see you…" Zenna laughed as her best human friend raced home.

Then she heard her parents shouting from above and looked up. Henna and Edgar were once again flying on their Zippleback, laughing and shouting with glee.

"You look like you're both having fun!" Zenna called after them. Suddenly, she was snatched up by Serpent and Serpentine!

"Holy Shields! Mom! Dad! What are you two trying to do?!" Zenna yelped as she dangled from her parents' Zippleback's paws. Edgar quickly pulled his daughter up and sat her up in front of him. "Since Stryka's out, your father and I thought it'd be nice to bring you on a ride with us." Henna told Zenna as they soared up in the clouds. "You enjoying it, love?" Edgar chuckled as Zenna giggled and tried to touch the clouds.

"We need to do this more often! That's all I gotta say." Zenna grinned happily. Serpent and Serpentine cooed as they gladly flew their family up higher. Zenna looked at her parents, who were both smiling and laughing. She wouldn't trade anything in the world for this little bonding moment with her parents. And if Elias were here…well, Zenna would be the happiest girl in all of Berk.

The next morning, Zenna and her mother and father went out on an early family flight. Stoick had just gotten up shortly after the Fiersomes had left and was now looking for his ride.

"Toothless? Toothless?" Stoick called out as his son came downstairs. "Where's Toothless?" Stoick asked Hiccup, not noticing that Toothless was hiding right behind him in a secret compartment.

Hiccup quickly recalled Astrid's advice and tried to keep a straight face. "Ah, I don't know, but you…Look _great_, Dad! What is it? Are you, d-did you do something with your beard?" he asked, stuttering slightly and knowing that his Dad _never _did anything new with his unruly beard.

Stoick gave Hiccup a look that clearly said that he'd dealt with this before. "Alright, you've given me the honey, now just give me the hatchet." The Chief said knowingly.

Hiccup inwardly sighed and decided to just be honest with his father. "Look, Dad, you can't just keep taking Toothless. He's mine." He said as straightforward as he could. Stoick looked at his son for a few seconds to consider his decision before finally saying, "Alright. That seems fair."

Hiccup was relieved for a second but then his father added, "So, find me one." Making him look at him in confusion. "Uh, sorry?" Hiccup asked, raising an eyebrow. "Find me a dragon as good as Toothless. That shouldn't be hard for the Head of the Berk Dragon Training Academy." Stoick told him.

"I believe you mean _one of the Heads _of the Berk Dragon Training Academy, Dad. Zenna's co-head of the Academy along with me." Hiccup informed Stoick before he and Toothless escorted him to the Dragon Academy. Along the way, the three of them met up with Zenna and Stryka who had just gotten back from their flight with their family.

"Good morning, Chief! Morning, Hicc!" Zenna chirped while Stryka trilled a hello. "Hey Zen! You mind if you and Stryka accompany us to the Academy?" Hiccup grinned at her. "Not at all. What're we doing for today's lesson?" Zenna asked curiously. Hiccup then leaned in closer to the one-eyed girl and whispered, "I need to find Dad a dragon so he'll stop using Toothless…Think you can help us?"

Zenna was slightly stunned, but when she saw the pleading look Toothless was giving her along with Stryka's worried look she couldn't say no.

"Let's go pick your dragon now, eh Chief?" Zenna smiled at Stoick as they entered the Berk Dragon Training Academy.

In no time, all the other Dragon Riders had assembled along with their dragons. Stoick carefully looked at each and every one of the teens' dragons, trying to decide which species would suit him best.

"The Monstrous Nightmare. The Deadly Nadder. The Hideous Zippleback. The Gronckle." Zenna pointed to the dragons one-by-one.

"The finest dragon species on the island. They're all represented here at this Academy." Hiccup told his father confidently.

Snotlout then stepped forward, ready to pitch Hookfang's species. "But the Monstrous Nightmare is the only one with the brawn and prestige for men of our stature." He said grandly as he took Stoick to Hookfang and said, "Hop on board. Feel the Monstrous Nightmare difference."

Stoick did as he was told and got on Hookfang.

Snotlout then continued with, "And on those cold winter nights, its whole body heats up. Just enough to keep you cozy. Lemme warm him up for you." Before flicking Hookfang in the snout.

Hookfang did not take this lightly and heated his body up. Unfortunately, it was too hot for Stoick to handle! The great Viking Chief yelled as his rear end was set aflame and made a beeline for the water trough, sighing with relief once he got his burnt bottom doused down.

"Now should I put you down for one? They come in an assortment of colors." Snotlout said innocently. Stoick merely glared at him.

The next ones up were Astrid and Stormfly. Stormfly squawked as Astrid did the introductions. "Just because she's beautiful, people think she's not tough. But you should never underestimate me. Uh, her—uh, us." Astrid said, stuttering a little on the last part much to her embarrassment.

Stoick nodded in admiration at Stormfly, seeing both her beauty and strength. "Well, she is a beauty." He complimented. Then he directly placed his hand on Stormfly's nose, the number one thing NOT to do if you're trying to tame a Deadly Nadder!

"Be careful with the-!" Astrid managed to warn the Chief before Stormfly squawked and flung her tail spikes! Luckily Stoick ran for a wall and narrowly avoided the spikes, which formed an outline of the great Chief on the wall.

"Monstrous Nightmare's looking a little better now, huh, Chief?" Snotlout asked cheerfully, still not giving up on convincing Stoick.

"Next!" Stoick ordered.

Barf and Belch would've been a good example of the Hideous Zippleback species…if they hadn't started fighting like Ruffnut and Tuffnut!

"_Next!_" Stoick barked, not bothering to wait for the Twins to introduce their dragon.

Fishlegs proudly stood by Meatlug. "Lemme tell you, what you're _really_ looking for is _loyalty_. A dragon who will be there for you, no matter what. The last face you see at night and the first face you see in the morning." He managed to say before tearing up. Warming your bed when it's cold outside, a shoulder to cry on when the world has turned its back on you…How could you not love a Gronckle?" Fishlegs concluded, nearly crying as Meatlug licked him comfortingly.

Stoick leaned in close to Hiccup with a slightly weirded out look. "Sorry son. But I'm looking for a dragon. Not a mother." He whispered.

Straightening up, Stoick looked at the other dragons before concluding, "I haven't seen anything that can hold a candle to a Night Fury."

"Me neither! But Toothless and Stryka are the only Night Furies on Berk. And they belong to me and Zenna." Hiccup told his father. "If there were any other Night Furies, we can find one for you Chief but…" Zenna said before notcing that her best human friend's father was curiously eyeing Stryka who just warbled innocently.

"I know what you're thinking, sir. And the answer is: No, I am not letting you borrow Stryka." Zenna said firmly as she stood between her one-eyed Night Fury and Stoick. The Chief sighed in disappointment.

That's when Gobber burst into the Academy while Henna and Edgar came flying through the sea facing exit on Serpent and Serpentine!

"Stoick! Another boat is being attacked! It's the rogue dragon again!" Gobber alerted his old friend. "It's Mulch and Bucket's boat being attacked!" Henna added promptly. "If we hurry, we can chase the dragon off before it wrecks their boat!" Edgar told them quickly.

"Let's go!" Stoick ordered Hiccup and Zenna. While Zenna quickly got on Stryka, Hiccup and his father both tried to get on Toothless at the same time. Stoick gave his son a look that clearly said that he was in charge of this mission this time.

"Oh, right…What was I thinking?" Hiccup said sarcastically, letting his father get on first. "At least he blocks the wind…" the auburn haired teen muttered. Zenna just gave him a pitying look before she and her parents on their dragons followed father, son and male Night Fury out of the Academy.

Meanwhile Bucket and Mulch were not having fun. Not only had they not filled up all of their nets with their catch for the day, they were being besieged by an angry blue Thunderdrum! Both fishermen covered their ears as the formidable Tidal Class dragon burst out of the water and unleashed its deafening roar that broke their boat's mast! At that moment, Hiccup, Zenna and their parents and dragons arrived.

"Odin's Ghost!" "Good gods!" Edgar and Henna exclaimed upon seeing the Thunderdrum. "Whoa…Holy Shields…" Zenna murmured in awe.

Hiccup and Stoick were pretty amazed at what they saw, even if it was acting hostile.

"I don't believe it. _A Thunderdrum! _They say it gets its power from Thor himself." Hiccup said in amazement.

But Stoick didn't have time to admire the great dragon's strength. A Chief protects his own and that's exactly what he was going to do.

"Fire a warning shot. Let him know we mean business." Stoick told Hiccup, Zenna and Edgar and Henna.

"Toothless! Plasma blast!" "Open fire, Stryka!" "Gas him, Serpent!" "Spark it up, Serpentine!" Hiccup, Zenna, Edgar and Henna all commanded together. Following their Riders' commands, both Night Furies and Hideous Zippleback launched their attacks, effectively sending the rogue Thunderdrum retreating back into the water!

Quickly landing on deck, Hiccup assessed the situation. "I think we scared him off, but we've got to get everyone out of here." He said quickly. "And we better do it fast. I think this big guy's gonna try something!" Zenna added, seeing the Thunderdrum's dark form swimming about from high up in the air with her parents.

Stoick turned to Bucket and Mulch, who were both relieved to see the Chief. "Come on, lads! We'll escort you back to shore. You'll have no more—" he managed to say before he heard Henna and Edgar both yell, "Stoick, look out!" and the Thunderdrum's long whip-like tail came up from the depths, grabbed him by the waist and pulled him underwater!

"No more what?!" Bucket hollered, wondering why the Chief hadn't finished his sentence.

Hiccup and Zenna both freaked out.

"Dad!" Hiccup yelled as he ran to the side to hopefully see any signs of his father. "Chief!" Zenna cried out, frantically watching the air bubbles rising to the surface.

It was madness just watching those bubbles for the two…

"Uh, Stoick can swim, right?" Mulch asked nervously. Hiccup and Zenna could only stay silent as they tensely waited for Stoick to resurface.

Thankfully, the great Viking Chief surfaced while still grappling with the rogue Thunderdrum. "Give it to him, Stoick!" Edgar cheered supportively from atop Serpent. "You can do it, Chief!" Henna said in support as well, bouncing on Serpentine's head.

But instead of wrestling the Thunderdrum off the boat, Stoick was encouraging it to keep fighting him! "Oh, he's a fighter! He's got spunk!" Stoick exclaimed as he continued grappling with the Tidal Class dragon. Hiccup, Zenna, Toothless, Stryka, Bucket, Mulch, Edgar, Henna and Serpent and Serpentine could only watch in shock as Stoick got a fishing net.

"This is the one, Hiccup and Zenna! I've found my dragon!" Stoick yelled as he threw the net over the Thunderdrum and held him down before turning to the two stunned Viking teenagers and said to them, "Now all you two have to do is train him for me."

Bucket was so shocked at all this that he dropped his oar. Hiccup and Zenna could only look at each other, stunned. Oh Thor, what just happened?

Well after the initial struggle of getting the Thunderdrum back to Berk and putting an iron muzzle over it to keep it from hurting anyone and caging it in the Academy, Hiccup and Zenna were ready to help Stoick with his Dragon Training.

"Sorry about the muzzle." Hiccup said apologetically to the snarling Thunderdrum. "Sorry, boy but it's for your own good." Zenna said gently only to get growl as a response.

"Alright, let's get me on his back. Time's-a-wastin'." Stoick said, getting excited.

"Now we just got to get one in his size." Hiccup said, referring to a saddle that could accommodate his father's massive frame. Zenna giggled, knowing fully well that Stoick didn't like being teased about his weight.

"What was that?" Stoick asked suspiciously. "Nothing." Hiccup said quickly, making Zenna giggle again.

Hiccup decided to cut to the important part. "Look. You have to approach him properly, Dad. Especially a dragon like this. He is one of the most powerful dragons Zenna and I've ever seen." Hiccup told his father seriously. "A roar from a Thunderdrum at close range can decapitate a man in an instant, Chief. It's best to approach it with extreme caution." Zenna chimed in.

"That's why I picked him. They say his roar gets its power from Thor himself! He's the God of Thunder, you know." Stoick boasted. "Except for the last sentence, that's exactly what Hiccup said earlier…" Zenna mumbled.

Hiccup sighed. "So I've heard. Still, you have to let the dragon know you're a friend." He told Stoick, who raised an eyebrow. "A friend, huh? Oh! Like me and Gobber?" he asked.

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah, perfect! What did you do when you two met?" he asked. To answer his son's question, Stoick took a hold of the boy in a headlock and noogied his head while saying, "'_That's my wife you're talking to, you one-legged lout!_'"

"Okay, not the kind of interaction we'd want you and the dragon to have." Zenna said nervously.

Hiccup gasped for air when his father released him. "Not exactly the approach I had in mind. Dad, what's really important is that you let him know that he can trust you. You have to make eye contact." He said calmly.

"Uh-huh. Sure." Stoick said dismissively as he eyed Zenna, who carefully opened the cage and cautiously led the male Thunderdrum out.

"Stay calm. Be gentle. And you'll know you've formed a bond when he bows his head to let you climb on his back." Hiccup told his father. "You want respect, you gotta give respect." Zenna said in agreement.

Stoick nodded at the two before locking eyes with the Thunderdrum. Extending his hand out, Stoick waited for the dragon to acknowledge him. But instead of curiously sniffing the Chief's palm, the Thunderdrum growled and tried to bite Stoick! Not taking this lightly, the Chief punched the dragon in the face and knocked it back!

"Punching a dragon in the face isn't part of the lesson!" Zenna yelped as she quickly inspected the Thunderdrum for injuries.

Hiccup looked at his father in disbelief. "Hey, hey! Whoa! What happened to trust?" he asked, flabbergasted. "Talk to him! He's the one who tried to take off my hand!" Stoick snapped before jumping at the dragon to wrestle himself onto its back!

"Seriously? More Dragon Wrestling?" Zenna groaned, shaking her head in disbelief as she and Hiccup watched the grappling duo. "Would you stop it, Dad? This is _not _bonding." Hiccup scolded his father, losing hope already.

"Ah! You got to show these beasts who's boss!" Stoick shouted as he struggled with the wildly thrashing Thunderdrum. "Yeah, but not through wrestling with them!" Zenna told him.

Stoick didn't have time to reply as he was now climbing on top of the Thunderdrum. "Look at that, I'm on his back! Any questions?" he grinned at Hiccup and Zenna. That's when the Thunderdrum decided to make a break for it! Hiccup and Zenna ducked as the great Tidal Class dragon soared over their heads.

"Oh, too many to ask." Hiccup sighed. "Way too many." Zenna added as Stoick and the Thunderdrum flew around in circles. "Wah-ho! Easy! Don't you know who I am?" Stoick exclaimed before he and the dragon were out of sight.

"Hicc, your father is officially as stubborn as you." Zenna deadpanned. Hiccup gave her a look that clearly said, '_For once, I completely agree with you._'

After an unsuccessful search for Stoick and the Thunderdrum, Hiccup and Zenna decided to go to Gobber for advice. The old blacksmith was busy fixing Meatlug's teeth and Zenna was assisting him while Hiccup decided to talk.

"I talk to him, but my Dad just doesn't listen! It's like I'm wasting my breath." Hiccup ranted. "That sounds a lot like what your father usually says whenever _you _don't follow orders too, you know?" Zenna pointed out. Hiccup shrugged helplessly but had to admit that his one-eyed best friend had a point.

Then Gobber exclaimed, "I got it!" Hiccup's face lit up in relief. "Thank you. At least somebody other than Zenna understands me…" he sighed in relief. "Um, Hicc?" Zenna giggled as Gobber pulled his head out of Meatlug's mouth, holding a rotten tooth.

"I meant _this._ Nasty." Gobber grimaced, throwing the tooth away before turning to his apprentice. "Now what were you saying?" he asked, oblivious to Hiccup's misery.

"Ugh! My father!" Hiccup exclaimed, frustrated. "Right! _Stoick._ Let me explain something about fathers and sons. It's a father's job to listen to his son without ever letting on that he's heard a word." Gobber explained to Hiccup and Zenna.

"That's the opposite of what Dad used to do with Elias. Whenever Eli told him something, he'd make sure to tell him that he got it." Zenna quipped before she, Hiccup and Gobber heard Stoick's voice yelling, "Hiccup!"

The trio turned to see Stoick headed towards them, covered in dirt and sticks like he had gone crashing through the woods on the Thunderdrum he was riding earlier!

"Dad, what happened?" Hiccup said as he ran up to his father, relieved. "Ah, the beast threw me off and flew off to Thor knows where." Stoick told him while Zenna handed him a roll of bandages to patch himself up.

"Well, can you blame him? All you ever did was fight him!" Hiccup exclaimed exasperatedly. "Dah! He loved it!" Stoick said casually. "Yeah, apparently not." Hiccup deadpanned, seeing how banged up his Dad was.

Stoick shrugged. "We can stand here arguing, or we can go get my dragon." He said before walking away.

"I'll go get the other Riders…" Zenna sighed before hearing the familiar hiss of her parents' Hideous Zippleback. She and Hiccup turned around and saw that her parents, Serpent and Serpentine along with all the other Riders already with them.

"How did you…?" Zenna asked in amazement. "No time to explain, love. We've got a Thunderdrum on the loose!" Henna smiled. "Saddle up, you two!" Edgar grinned.

"They overheard the whole conversation between Stoick and Hiccup while flying and contacted us." Astrid explained to the surprised one-eyed girl.

Hiccup looked at Henna and Edgar with admiration. "Your parents are turning out to be really great Dragon Riders, Zenna." He told his best human friend. Zenna looked at her parents who smiled at her along with their maroon Hideous Zippleback.

"Yeah…They sure are…" she said, smiling as well. Her parents were Dragon Riders like her now. The Fiersome family were now officially a family of Dragon Riders.

And if Elias were still alive…Zenna knew that her older brother would be real proud of them.

The sun slowly made its way across the horizon westward as the team of Dragon Riders began searching for Stoick's Thunderdrum. Stoick was once again riding upfront on Toothless with Hiccup behind him. Zenna and Stryka flew alongside Henna and Edgar, who were both scanning the surroundings with Serpent and Serpentine.

"Alright! We have to fan out and cover every part of the island!" Stoick ordered the team.

Hiccup turned to his friends, who were flying behind him and waiting for his orders. "Ruffnut and Tuffnut, you take—" he began to say before his father cut in with, "You take the West side!"

"You got it, Chief." Tuffnut said, but he and his sister made no move to leave on Barf and Belch.

"Can anybody even _see _me back here?!" Hiccup scowled.

"WEST SIDE!" Stoick barked to the Twins, who quickly flew to the West.

"Snotlout, to the North side!" Snotlout nodded at the Chief's command and he and his dragon flew off.

"Come on Fishlegs. We'll take the East side." Astrid told the husky Ingerman boy, Stormfly gliding next to Meatlug. Fishlegs looked at Astrid apprehensively. "But-but it's allergy season." He protested meekly.

"_Fishlegs!_" Astrid said warningly. "Not me. It's her." Fishlegs sighed, petting Meatlug who crooned lovingly. But the big duo yielded to Astrid's command and followed her and her Nadder to the East.

"Well, your friends are an odd bunch, but they sure know what they're doing on those dragons." Stoick complimented Hiccup and Zenna. "Thank you. I think…" Hiccup said awkwardly. "We take that as a compliment, sir." Zenna smiled slightly as she and her parents followed Toothless on their dragons.

Several minutes passed and they still hadn't found Stoick's runaway Thunderdrum.

But Hiccup took this opportunity to talk to his Dad in order to rethink his bonding strategy. "Okay, when we find the dragon you might wanna think about approaching him…differently. Obviously he doesn't like being pushed around so—"

Stoick was listening for the first few minutes until he spotted his dragon slinking off into a cave down below and exclaimed, "_There _he is!"

Zenna face palmed while Edgar and Henna just sighed and shook their heads. Stryka, Toothless, Serpent and Serpentine all just groaned in exasperation. "And, _once again_, not a word goes through…" Hiccup sighed as Toothless, Stryka, Serpent and Serpentine came in for a landing.

The Thunderdrum saw them coming and growled. Toothless and Stryka growled back at him and got into attack stances along with Serpent and Serpentine.

"Settle down, bud." "Easy does it, Stryka." Hiccup and Zenna told their dragons soothingly so as to avoid an unwanted fight. Henna and Edgar protectively stood by their maroon Hideous Zippleback. But that's also when they both noticed something in the cave the rogue Thunderdrum had been hiding in earlier…

"Let me handle this. This dragon's mine." Stoick said, readying his hammer. "Dad!" Hiccup shouted, worried that his father was going to try something crazy.

"Stoick, wait!" Edgar stopped as the Chief began to raise his hammer. "Mom, Dad, what is it?" Zenna asked, confused. "Look." Henna pointed to the cave.

That's when they all saw the violet Thunderdrum with a large hole in its wing!

"There's another Thunderdrum in there." Stoick said, shocked. The injured Thunderdrum let out a weak moan from the pain. "He's hurt." Hiccup said worriedly. "Oh Thor, of all the days I chose not to bring any of my medical supplies…" Zenna scolded herself.

Stoick looked at the injured Thunderdrum, then at his Thunderdrum, back to the injured Thunderdrum and then at his Thunderdrum again.

"Well, he-he's protecting his friend. That's why he's been taking all those fish." He said in realization. "What do you think we should do now, Stoick?" Edgar asked him. "The poor thing. We can't just leave him there all alone." Henna said with pity.

"Go get the others. And tell Gobber to get ready." Stoick ordered Hiccup and Zenna. "But what about you, sir?" Zenna asked. "Dad, I can't just leave you here!" Hiccup protested.

"_Go!_" Stoick insisted. "We'll stay here with the Chief, you two." Henna reassured them. "Just get the others over here and quick." Edgar told them seriously. Nodding gravely, Hiccup and Zenna mounted Toothless and Stryka and flew off.

"Looks like it's just you and me, big fella." Stoick said after he gave Henna and Edgar the signal to stay back and approached the muzzled Thunderdrum. It growled and snapped at him, refusing to let the Chief come any closer.

"I want to help, trust me." Stoick said gently before hearing Edgar and Henna's nervous voices.

"Um…Stoick…"

The great Chief looked around and saw that wild boars were surrounding them!

"Ah, they smell the blood of your wounded friend." Stoick said grimly. "We can't let those beasts come any closer." Henna said, unsheathing her sword along with her husband.

Serpent and Serpentine hissed as their Riders got on and prepared to attack. One boar decided to charge and Stoick knocked it back with his hammer! "Take this, you wild pigs!" Edgar yelled as Serpent and Serpentine gassed and sparked the boars away.

But then, another wild boar tackled Stoick to the ground. "Hang on Stoick…! We'll help you in a sec…!" Henna yelped as she and her husband along with their dragon kept a number of boars at bay. But that's when Stoick's Thunderdrum decided to whip the boar off of Stoick with its tail! Stoick looked at the dragon, and calmly extended his hand to the dragon who crooned and allowed him to touch his snout. Once the bond was established, Stoick ripped the muzzle off the Thunderdrum, who bowed to him. Getting on the Thunderdrum, Stoick went up into the air. "Get 'em, Chief!" Henna and Edgar cheered.

Stoick then gave the signal and the Thunderdrum unleashed its Sonic Blast, blowing all the boars away!

"Yes!" Henna and Edgar whooped, before sending another boar away with their dragon.

"Aww look at us! We're bonded!" Stoick chuckled. At that exact moment, Hiccup, Zenna and all the other Dragon Riders arrived.

"What…_Happened?_" Hiccup and Zenna both asked, shocked. "Ah, we battled a few boars, did a little bonding." Stoick said lightly. "You?" Hiccup asked in amazement. "That actually happened?" Zenna asked her parents, in shock as well. "It was the best battle your mother and I ever had in years, love!" Edgar beamed at Zenna.

Then Stoick looked to his son and said, "Of course! There's something you should know about dragons. _It's all about trust_."

"Now, where have I heard that line before?" Zenna asked coyly as she looked at Hiccup with a knowing smile.

"So you actually _heard _that?" Hiccup asked his Dad in amazement. "Yes, I just said that. I listen." Stoick chuckled. "And here Edgar and I thought that you didn't." Henna smiled amusedly. "Well then, let's get your dragon's friend fixed up now shall we?" Edgar piped up.

Carefully, the gang loaded the injured violet Thunderdrum onto a sling and carried it back to Berk.

"Take good care of him. He's a friend." Stoick told Gobber as he and Hiccup took the injured dragon to Gobber's place on their dragons. Gobber nodded and saluted, smiling that his old friend was finally giving the whole Dragon Riding thing a go.

Zenna and her parents then came with their dragons. "What do you say we challenge our parents to a race?" Zenna winked at her best human friend. Hiccup grinned before looking at his father and Zenna's parents.

"Race you, Dad!" "Mom, Dad, see if you two can keep up!" Laughing, Hiccup and Zenna urged their Night Furies to speed up. Stoick, Edgar and Henna looked at each other and then laughed before racing after their children.

'_Hiccup's dad still does things the Viking way. Fortunately, Toothless and Hiccup showed him that the Viking way can also be the Dragon way. And as for my parents, they love the Dragon way as much as I do._'

We then see Stoick on his Thunderdrum, helping pull some boats out to sea before leaving to go on a flight. Hiccup and Toothless then flew alongside him, accompanied by Zenna and her parents on their own dragons. Together, the Haddocks and Fiersomes had their family flight.

**I promise to make the next chapters better. But right now, school has been cramping my style **

**Until the next update.**

**-GuardianDragon98**


End file.
